10,956 km so far.

We are really enjoying the speed of life in Laos, and know that when we leave Luang Prabang our time here will be pretty much over.

We are thankful to have another day to wander around the city, without much of anything on our to do list.

Working Hard At Relaxing

Luang Prabang is a beautiful city – the whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – filled with orange robed monks-in-training and 33 beautifully ornate Buddhist wats.

You can easily wile away a day or three walking along the edge of the Mekong…

…crossing one of the bamboo bridges to the small towns across the Nam Khan river…

…meandering through the markets filled with local (and some imported) foods and handicrafts…

…and visiting the wats.

We wandered around the Royal Palace grounds, but didn’t go inside.

We walked out along the end of the peninsula, started to create a backpacker bingo where you get points for spotting dreadlocks and harem pants, being slightly annoyed that the internet is as slow in Laos as everything else… you know, generally having a fun, relaxed day.

Jane’s note: I accomplished my big goal for the day, which was to get a traditional Lao massage. It was a little underwhelming, even though I went to The Peninsula, which came highly recommended on a few expat blogs. My masseuse pretty much phoned it in, going through the motions without any commitment. She did use a good technique on my hamstrings though, kneeling with both her knees on one of my legs. It hurt, but in a good way.

Sitting in a riverfront bar, watching the sun set on theh Mekong, life seemed pretty idyllic.

We are heading out early tomorrow, taking the slow boat along the Mekong for two days to get us to Thailand. I know, I know. That’s not cycling. But, if you aren’t riding to Vientiane from here, you take the boat to Thailand. It’s just the way it goes. The roads involve a huge detour and more mountains than we care to tackle.

Three Strikes

With our alarm set for 6am, we went to bed. And then I hardly slept.

We had discussed spending a mini fortune on a nice dinner, but laziness and frugality saw us head back to the vegan buffet in the night market for the third night in a row.

Mistake. Three times apparently isn’t a charm.

I could go into the details of my night in the bathroom. It is tempting as the description would be full of graphic adjectives and kinda fun to write – but I will spare you.

By the time the alarm went off in the morning I wasn’t feeling any better, and we had a decision to make. Stay in Luang Prabang another day, or take our chances on the boat to Pakbeng.

Tune in tomorrow.  ♥