Luang Prabang

In the morning we went to a small gym that we found when walking back to our hostel yesterday. No wider than the open shop front accommodating it, the equipment was set upon rose tiling with desk fans to slowly push the humid air around. Posters of 'Farlang' bodybuilders decorated the walls and birds chirped in small cages hanging below the awning outside.

The absence of other clients highlighted how the concept of exercising in gyms is foreign in the developing world. Although when passing by later on we noticed some men (possibly government or NGO desk warmers) using the gym, for the vast majority the day-to-day task of labouring to eat is costly exercise enough.

We ate lunch at the same food stall where we had sheltered from the rain yesterday, the young women smiling at our attempts to order in fragments of Lao. The prevailing French colonial influence in Luang Prabang means that baguettes and even pate are readily available. This meant for the first time in weeks we ate bread rather than rice; warm baguettes filled with chicken and avocado, garnished with salad and mayonnaise, washed down with ginger tea as town life passed us by. It was delicious.

In the afternoon we took a mini-van with Anna and another Stray guide, Chris (who we haven't mentioned before but who has also accompanied us with Keo as he is training - you will notice him in the pictures from Ban Pak Nguey) to the Kuang Si waterfalls. Passing a vista of bright green rice paddy fields that contrasted with the darker green of rainforest, we could see a thunderstorm threatening off a distant mountainside.

Under the entrance gate and before the falls, we walked through a sanctuary for bears, rescued from smugglers or illegal ownership and unable to return to the wild because of their exposure to human contact. We read how upon arrival the bears are often in poor physical and emotional condition and pioneering neurosurgery was successfully completed on one to restore her to a healthy and happy state. Good bear story.

The roar of the waterfall steadily increased until we could see the torrent of brown water for ourselves. The heavy rains washing the mud off mountainside down through the falls to give it this colour. We had hoped to swim in the waters at the basin but even there it was too high and strong to be safe. Further up the water crashed through seating areas and platforms, where at drier times of the year tourists would be. There are positives and negatives to travelling in the low/wet season and this was one of the down sides. Nevertheless it was still an impressive force of nature to witness and we stayed to watch until the rains arrived to drive us back to the shelter of the mini-van.

Every night in Luang Prabang a night market opens along the main street, which becomes closed to traffic. Sheltered by tarpaulin and lit by electric lamp, hundreds of stalls sell clothes, bags and souvenirs whilst down side streets other vendors sell food. Smoking barbecued meats, sizzling crepes, bubbling soups and freshly cut papaya, pineapple and melon salads. We moved through the narrow walkways and the sensory treasure trove they contained to sample a selection for our dinner.Read more