Arrived in the sunshine, no problem getting through immigration, picked up some local currency and we became millionaires!

Off to our hotel, the On The Mekong Resort, owned by Henry, an American, who bought local Laos wooden houses to convert into hotel rooms, using excess wood to make furniture around the hotel. He gave us a tour and then took us into the Old Town, which is a UNESCO heritage site, showing us the various sights and recommending places for food and drink, together with an insight into the local people.

Ordered a meal in from a local restaurant, for the princely sum of £16!! Overnight there was heavy rains, caused by the Typhoon Yagi which is causing chaos in China and Vietnam.

The rain continued the next day so we took a trip to the National Museum, which was originally the Royal Palace. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open at the designated time, very typical in Laos, so we went for lunch and returned later. No photos inside, but well laid out route around the museum, showcasing traditional dress worn by the King and Queen, furniture, musical instruments and many gifts given to the Royal Family.

Returned to the hotel, very wet and tired, so another meal in, cheaper at £9.

Temple day today, again in the rain, but not too bad:

Wat Xiengthong
The Temple is one of the oldest and most important in Luang Prabang city in Laos, it was built during the reign of King Setthathirat in 1559-1560. The name means temple of the golden city. There are a number of buildings, including one housing a serpent funeral carriage, used in the late Kings funeral. An impressive, ornately decorated Sim, with a large Buddha and on the rear of the Sim is a huge mosaic of the Tree of Life.

Wat Sensoukharam
Which means “Temple of 100,000 treasures” as it was built using 100,000 stones from the Mekong river. We couldn’t go in any of the buildings, but there were a number of long barges in a open building and a glass one encasing a VW Beetle!

We saw lots of people on scooters, no crash helmets but holding umbrellas, sometimes 2 if there were 2 passengers. After coffee and cake we took a tuktuk back to the hotel, at least the rain has died down.