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Time to chill out again. And what better place. Good easy food, lots of handicrafts, markets, temples etc to look at. And great company... Enjoyed hanging out with the Kiwi, Donna, Amanda & Johanna. Good times..

Shenanigans in Louang Prabang:
It started out innocently, down to the river for a meal and a couple of beers. We had a boat to catch at 8 the next morning so just a quiet one was the way to go. After a few bevvies we decided it would be rude not to check out one of the local falang night clubs. It was all good and we figured a boat could be the perfect place for a hangover.
All the clubs in Luang Prabang close by midnight, and any falang who want to kick on get shuttled off out into suburbia somewhere to a bowling club, of all places. Seems a good way to keep the drunk foreigners out of town. Got pretty messy by the end (2-3ish) Failed attempt by the kiwi to commandeer a tuktuk. Was looking forward to a few well earnt hours sleep. But that's not what the falang gods had in mind. Got back to our hotel to find the door padlocked from the outside! Of course the curfew, we forgot. Knocked for ages but no good. Crazy, what if there was a fire?
So we roamed the streets and found a few old Laos guys sitting around playing cards and drinking spirits. We sat with them and drank whatever they fed us..
Eventually we found out through broken english that we were actually at a wake, or more the afterparty of a wake. So thats what all the flower arrangements and photos were for. The rice wine could only keep me warm for so long, so i left James at the wake and wandered down along the river. Turned out to be a good move, as i found some locals huddled around a fire who were happy to make room for me. Eventually the sun came up and i returned to find the mad Kiwi just where i'd left him, only a bit more under the weather. At last we got into the hotel, showered and packed to get on the boat. Was a night to remember.

7am dive into packing:

James travels light, but not without the trusty beer bong. Mad.

It would be too easy to spend some time here, very nice. But the open road beckons...

Boat up the Mekong to Pak Beng
Although quite seedy, still ended up being a nice day sitting back reading or dozing watching the river do its thing...

Farewell to the girls: