Sackarinh G-house, Luang Prabang, Day 2

Our first full day in Luang Prabang starts with a much needed morning of rest. It is very cold, and is very nice to stay wrapped up in bed and know there are no mountains to climb or miles to bike today. When we finally wake, we eat a lovely breakfast of omelette and steamed rice in the restaurant outside. This is our new go to breakfast and at just over a quid a pop, you can't go wrong.
After breakfast we get a lovely cup of tea in a nearby cafe. I am starting to learn the wonders of green tea, and out here it is amazing. After the tea, Amy finds a small spa in which she can get her nail varnish that was applied before her birthday off. As she sits and gets it done I find a small stall that sells big fruit shakes. What must have been about ten pineapples goes into my litre of shake. It tastes great, but is unfinishable to mere humans due to its astronomical size. It is great to sit and watch the place go by as I drink. Tuk tuks beep by with the drivers trying to catch my eye and give me lifts, and it is lovely to sit and not sweat in immense heat like usual. No-one here seems to be rushing anywhere, and it is the perfect place to sit and read for half an hour.
I meet Amy back at the spa and we go for a short walk to the riverside. We see a rickety looking bamboo bridge, that must be sturdier then it looks as a lot of people are walking over it. I didn't expect to be so close to the river, and it seems like miles away from the busy streets, despite only been minutes. It is very cool but we decide against paying the fee to cross. We head back, taking advantage of the lazy day we have given ourselves.
After some relaxing time we go out and grab a sandwich to eat by the river. We find a staircase leading right down to the water and sit and eat. There is hardly anyone around, and the views of the river and the bordering hills are very nice. Once we are done, we skip over to the sand next to us and wander along the small riverbank that leads us back to the bamboo bridge. Amy finds a smouldering fire that someone has recently left to die and warms her hands up on it, which shows the temperature today (or shows Amy's sense of melodrama).
We head back up and wander around the streets of Luang Prabang. It is so tightly nestled between big hills, that any direction you walk in leads to a view, and it is lovely to forget about maps and just wander, knowing we won't end up too far from the hotel. We walk past what looks like a wedding. The dancefloor is packed with dancers who are either performing a well known dance, or are the most synchronised family in Laos. Anyway, they look like they are having a great time, and some tourists join in with the dance (not us obviously).
We don't do anything but slowly wander until it is time to head back to the room and relax for a bit. We have a developed a good system of washing in which clothes are hung in a cupboard with the unneeded room fan left to blast them all day. Clothes are drying and our huge laundry bags are slowly diminishing, which is good news. Who said travelling was all play and no work!
We go to the same restaurant as always for tea, as it is lovely and handy to be less then a minute from our room, before getting an early night. Today has been more about recharging the batteries, and we have done that with the aid of a lot of tea and fruit shakes an a good deal of rest. Tomorrow, we get back to it, and plan to tackle mount Phousi (gulp).Baca lagi