AT

14/10/11

Bitty day today, it's the night train to Hanoi again tonight so we have to check out of the room by 1030. I was woken at 3am last night by a huge storm going on outside and the rain on the window sounded like someone trying to get in. I pulled one of the curtains aside and was  almost blinded by the lightning, is it strange there was no thunder to go with it?

The rain continued into mid morning so the day was pretty much taken up with writing this and watching the new arrivals entering the town. If you arrive during the week the place is a lot quieter, but from Thursday to Sunday it's a mass of day trippers and new arrivals, so I was glad to be leaving, but for this reason only.

By 1700 we were ready to go, armed with baguettes made by the hotel, unfortunately when the bus arrived it looked like it was driven by short round from the Indy movie, I hadn't even sat down when he pulled away sending me over the seat behind! Even with a full bus we made the trip back to Lao Cai  in record time and there were a lot of White knuckles when it finally stopped at the station. So here we are again on the Orient Express but with a different cabin this time, the air con is quieter and pumping in air and the power plugs all work, so as long as I don't wake up in Hogwarts at 5am I'll be happy.

15/10/11

Quite possibly the worst nights sleep ever! For some reason the train kept stopping, which in turn woke both of us up. To try and top that when I did sleep I was having a very strange dream about a pet monkey, eventually and thankfully the train pulled in 45 mins late at 0545.

Ms Han at the Hanoi Guesthouse (where we had stayed whilst in Hanoi) kindly allowed us to leave our bags and have a shower to freshen up at the guesthouse before setting out into the chaos of Hanoi one more time for breakfast. We had arranged to leave for the airport at 12 even though our flight was not until 1825 and by midday both of us were starting to feel the sleepless night from before. I also now have a head cold which had started the day before and, although not any worse, I'm starting to sound like I have my head in a bucket, so I trot off to find some over the counter meds and end up being offered Tamiflu! I'm not that much of a drama queen so I settle for some Daynurse look alike.

The drive to the airport only took an hour so we wandered around to see if we could exchange some cash into Kip and Dollar. The only place we could buy Dollar refused to take any cards saying it was cash only, despite proudly displaying the "we accept" signs, so frustrated, we walked off to find some food.

I'm now sat at the gate wondering how to do the next part of the trip. Laos visas we can get at the airport, but we have been unable to secure accommodation in Luang Prebang as none of the places have email or Internet, so this means taking a tuktuk from the airport and being dropped at one and walking from there if no luck. Adding to the woe will be the fact its dark already and we have no Kip ( which annoyingly we can't change when we leave). Let's hope lady luck is still smiling?

Walking out to the plane and yay it's a twin prop, I've not been on one of these since my last skydive, I hope the landing is a bit better this time....

Touchdown was slightly sideways, but that's better than a farm field full of crops! Laos customs was quick and painless, pay the fee and get your entry visa and I'm only mildly irritated by the fact you have to pay to leave the country later. Tuk-tuk found and we're bouncing the 2kms into town from the airport. We have picked the first accommodation that looks good and we are heading there, hopefully to a cold shower as the temperature here is still high even though it's almost 2000hrs.

Result! First stop accommodation has room and we are in! Another kingsize bed and a huge shower room/toilet/bathroom plus a tv, this will do us for 3 nights until our boat leaves. We literally dump our kit and head out into Luang Prabang itself to have a look around and find that the night Market is still open. The Market is set on the main street and opens from about 1700 onwards when they close the road. It stretches for about a mile and you can find everything a tourist may need from nicknacks to take home to authentic cotton clothes and the usual cheap t-shirts. We didn't buy anything but Becky eyed up a cake stall and we found a smoothie stand which will be good for breakfast. We retire to our room to catch up on some sleep.