Day 2 on the Mekong River boat.

Saying goodbye to Pakbeng Town, we returned to our cruise for a further 7hrs charting our way to Luang Prabang, some 170km up river.

As the boat meanders its way along the mighty Mekong there was an ever change of view, from gold prospectors on a small scale to a very large scale with diggers and trucks, to more rural and natural sights such as water buffalo& goats as well as children playing in the shallows.

After a morning sail, we stopped at caves adjacent to the river where the locals have placed Buddhas for worship. During the Vietnam war the caves were also used to hide and live in to try and escape the Viet Cong.

Back on the boat for the last couple of hours the sun returned and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon topping up the tan and the occasional Laos beer…

By 4.30pm we arrived at our destination, the former capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. After a short tut tut ride, we arrived at our hotel and home for the next 3 nights.

After a quick shower and change, we headed out for a walk around the beautiful town centre with its colonial French buildings. We were so impressed by how welcoming the people are and how ordered the place is compared to Thailand. Not sure if it’s the communist influence, but there is no litter and everything looks clean and well kept.

We headed for dinner at a fantastic restaurant that acts as a catering school during the day, and did the most amazing tapas style Laos local food which we both loved. Probably the best meal we’ve had in Asia to date.

Our starter was a bamboo inspired soup with local vegetables which was so flavourful.

Our mains were a spread of local dishes that went down so fast and we both loved.

Dessert was a sweet purple rice with local fruits which capped off the evening and filled us both up.

On our way back to the hotel we saw some further French references, notably an old Citroen car with a funny reg. Think we are definitely going to enjoy our 3 days in this great city.