Up early to catch the mini-bus to Nong Khiaw. After picking up a French couple our driver is keen to get away. On the outskirts of Luang Prabang we stop for fuel, but the cues are long, after the New Year celebrations I guess. After about 30 minutes we get fuel and are on the road.

We wind through some stunning countryside, hugging the river than we will ride down in a few days. I feel our driver is a bit unsure in some circumstances, but I guess he’s never had any proper driver training.

We make it to Nong Khiaw and take a walk across the massive bridge, looking for somewhere to stay. We settle on SunSet, which is highly recommended. The places isn’t quite as good as the guide book makes out, but it’s fine and the people are friendly, although not very organised. We get a good hut with amazing views. There are a massive amount of insects in this area. Our neighbours are the French couple from the mini-bus. The guy actually works as a butterfly catcher, and I chat to him briefly about his work.

We’ve spent the last few days chilling out in Vang Vieng, watching the world go by our riverside hut.

We head out for breakfast and get a taste of how the day will unfold. Today is the main day of the Laos New Year, Pii Mai, and everyone is soaking everyone else with water. There is such a good atmosphere. We spend the day walking around, laughing and getting absolutely soaked. We soak a few people ourselves by turning their buckets back on them, which the Laos people love. We get attacked with flour and what initially looked like old engine oil, which made me a bit concerned at first. But, it all washed out of our clothes in the end, so we figured it was face paint or similar.

We didn’t do any of the sightseeing we had planned, there is just too much celebrating going on. We book tickets to leave tomorrow to go to Nong Khiaw, where we intend to spend a few days moving up the river to explore a few out of the way towns.

Today has been a fun and interesting day. This is the 3rd New Year I have seen on my trip.

We catch the tuk tuk to the bus yard outside of town, where we jump on the bus that will take us north through Laos, to Luang Prabang. There are a lot of people wanting to catch this bus. Tomorrow is the start of the Laos New Year (Pii Mai) celebrations, and locals and travellers are on the move. After some people are moved to a minibus we get going.

After only an hour we stop at a small town. We jump off for refreshments. When we jump on there are a line of locals wanting to catch the bus to Luang Prabang. As if by magic a stack of plastic chairs appear and are placed in the aisle of the bus, the locals sit in the chairs, but they cram more and more in the now packed aisle. As the last of the extra passengers try to fit on a old French couple at the front of the bus start to protest, saying that the bus is already crowded, and is now unsafe. They saw they have paid $6 for this VIP bus ride, and yet more people are being packed on. The guy organising listens for 10 seconds, before shouting something in Laos at them and getting back to packing in the extra passengers. Although this is a bit unsafe, this is probably the busiest time of year in Laos for people migration, so I thinks its part of traveling here.

We get going again, passing through steep terrain, often with the road hugging the hillside. We pass many remote villages and even lonesome houses, perched right on the roadside, and although noisy these houses have amazing views. The scenery here is the closest I have seen to that of Nepal, and Laos is the country most similar to Nepal that I have visited, and yet there are still lots of subtle differences. I think Laos is more developed than Nepal, despite being one of the World’s least developed countries.

At exactly 5pm the bus arrives at Luang Prabang. We catch a tuk tuk into town. We had been a little concerned about finding a place to stay, as the New Year celebrations had already started. But, we find a place fairly quickly. It’s more expensive than we would normally pay (US$18), but it is a beautiful room, perhaps the nicest we have stayed in on our entire trip.

We grab a drink overlooking the Mekong river. We are fascinated watching the boats run about on the river. The sun sets and we think about our journey so far, and how lucky we are to have the privilege of being able to travel to such amazing countries, and seeing such glorious sights.

After breakfast we catch the bus to Vang Vieng. The bus doesn’t have AC, and it’s very hot, but the breeze is enough to stop us cooking. The views are great, especially as we near Vang Vieng where the terrain becomes much hillier. The bus stops at a small resort, right by the river. The resort looks really nice, and the rooms are a good price, so we decide to stay here for a night.

We spend the afternoon sitting in the restaurant, re-hydrating ourselves, and watching the strange spectacle of large trucks and tractors driving up and down the river (as the bridges are too small to carry large vehicles). We are tempted to take a swim in the river, which we are unsure about at first, but when the kids leave school they all jump in the river, so it seems pretty safe.

In the afternoon Abby does a fine job of cutting my hair, which was getting a bit long for comfort.

Tomorrow we hope to take a good look around the area, and maybe go tubing.

In the evening we speak to our friend Cameron. He was thinking of taking a short trip away, and we suggested meeting him in Hanoi, Vietnam. Fingers crossed!

Today is hot, really hot! We catch a tuk tuk to Pha That Luang, the amazing golden temple that is the oldest in Lao, and one of their shinning symbols. We wander around taking photos, but it is so hot that we have to dive for the cover of the shade as soon as we leave. Abs isn’t feeling so well so we buy a umbrella to keep her in the shade.

We walk down to the bus stop and try and find the bus to Buddha Park. Several taxi drivers tell us that the bus takes 2.5 hours and will finish by the time the park closes. I don’t believe this, but I’m unable to find any official information about the bus times. I do find the bus though, but it is already full and we don’t fancy standing for the 45 minute ride. The taxi drivers want 150,000Kip for the ride, the bus is about 10,000Kip each. A girl approaches and says that a tuk tuk to the park will cost 50,000Kip return. We agree to this and are led to the tuk tuk.

The ride out to Buddha Park is an interesting one and we pass a few sights. The end of the road is bad and the tuk tuk fights to negotiate the muddy lane which is being made worse by the construction lorries which are dowsing the road with water to keep the dust down.

Eventually we make it to Buddha Park. It’s quite small but packed with amazing constructions. Strangely the monuments are all relatively new, being made in the last 60 years. There is actually quite a lot of concrete around.

We shop and chat to a monk for a while. He is keen to practice his English. We exchange postal and email addresses, and will communicate soon. In a few days is the Laos New Year, and he was particularly keen to take us to the south to celebrate it with his family, but sadly we don’t have the time.

I buy the tuk tuk driver a bottle of water, but he doesn’t accept it, which seems strange. After the ride back to Vientiane city I go to pay the drive 60,000Kip instead of 50,000Kip as a nice gesture. But, he then claims that the deal was 150,000Kip, all via his mobile phone as he doesn’t speak English. I say no way, I triple checked with the girl that the price was 50,000Kip for 2 people, return. He looks puzzled and drives over to his mate, who does speak English. His mate isn’t very interested in helping with the situation, which confirms to me that it is a scam. We leave him with the 60,000Kip and walk away. It’s a shame that such a nice trip should end with a scam, but we don’t look back as we walk to the guesthouse.

Vientiane is surely the worlds most peaceful, laid back and carefree capital city. Laos is described as one of the worlds least developed countries, and yet Vientiane shows wealth, both financially and spiritually, prosperity and a warm and working commitment to communism. I suspect we will more signs of poverty outside of Vientiane, but for now we are enjoying kicking back in this amazing place.

Just about every corner we turn we see colourful monks, temples, people and all of the sights and sounds that make Laos what it is. It will soon be the Laos New Year, and a fair has been setup on the bank of the Mekong River.

After getting our Vietnam visas this morning we wander around for a bit, absorbing the fascinating world of Laos. We decide to take a swim, and find the local swimming pool, which is a nice pool, and very cheap. After cooling down from the 40 degree Celsius heat, from which we have caught more than enough sunshine today, we head back to the hotel, and out again for dinner.