Day 5 - Siem Reap - Luang Prabang

Today was a day for travel, so after a very relaxing head massage as a goodbye treat, we climbed into the minivan, said some sad goodbyes to Palm Village (we definitely didn't want to go!) and headed off to the airport. It's always bittersweet visiting several different countires in one trip - just as you settle into really loving one, you have to leave for another, but then the next always seems to hold its own joys, so you're still glad you came... ahh, the terrible joys of holidays. Luckily, I was able to console myself with an unexpected treat at the airport... Dairy Queen! Ahhh, banana split blizzards...



Following such a lovely reminder of home, we boarded the plane to Luang Prabang and made our way across some amazingly mountainous regions into Laos, our second destination. At first I was a little unsure as we made our way into Luang Prabang's town centre - it all seemed much more rural than we were expecting, and though I do love the sense of adventure travel provides, I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of really roughing it. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want over-the-top hotel suites and chauffeured limos, but I do enjoy the comfort of basic things like infrastructure, motored transport, etc. Luckily, once we got downtown things started to look a more promising - there's certainly a very strong French influence here, creating a strange hybrid of the European cosmopolitan atmosphere and the traditional Southeast Asian culture.



After only a few minutes, I was hooked - I love Laos!! Our hotel is lovely (all dark wood and panelling) and the town is small enough that it makes exploring on foot fairly easy and comfortable.



After dropping off our stuff in the room, we decided to head out to Main Street, our first port of call the riverside café where we sat and had a drink, marvelling at the amazing scenery and the monks who were consistently falling out of the boats as they tried to cross the river. We weren't sure whether to laugh or not, given the strong-ish current, but as their laughter floated up to where we were sitting, we decided such tumbles were probably fairly frequent, and a smile or two at their antics would probably be safe.



After a refreshing drink, we headed off to the markets! We were determined not to spend the whole time shopping (such a temptation given how beautiful and inexpensive everything is!), but, good news, our guilty resolution was unnecessary, since in Luang Prabang, much like many of the places we've visited, the markets seem to be where much of the culture is... children playing, people chatting, life swirling all around us. And these markets (Hmong night markets) were fantastic - beautiful items, beautiful people and a very friendly atmosphere. I can't believe how much I bought! Love it!