Chiang Mai to Laos

So we finally dragged ourselves away from our Pai induced lethargy and found ourselves a great little hotel in Chiang Mai while we waited to arrange our Laos visas and airline tickets. Ate well, slept well, swimming pool and cable TV - sorted!

We flew into Luang Prabang in Northern Laos on a bouncy and slightly scary propeller plane - but it was worth it. LP is just lovely, with its slightly spooky misty mountains and the mighty Mekong cutting through the hillsides. We have been pootling about the town and local villages on bikes, visiting the stunning temples and colourful markets. Lao people are amazingly friendly and unassuming, and make great food too. Sabadee is like saying 'what's uup/how are you?/I'm fine/how's it going?/see you - it's a great word. Like Julay in Ladakh or Tashi Delai in Tibet. We are all making a concerted effort to learn Laos and can already count to ten. Although Kip, the Lao currency starts in the thousands so its all a bit confusing.

The other day we visited the most amazing waterfall any of us have ever seen or jumped in! Kuang Xi was spectacular and tremendous fun - and wonderfully cooling in this immensely dry heat. We leapt off rocks and crashed into torquoise whitewater pools. Top trip highlight for sure.

Tomorrow we head north, hoping to do a river trip and some trekking. We had an amazing storm here the other night and the rains are starting to rumble - but this is a good thing as its just too damn hot!