And we're off!

 Sadly, a very enjoyable four-month trip comes to an end - as does everything - and we're flying back to the UK tomorrow. Today is packing, saying a few goodbyes and tidying up.

But - the good news is that we plan to be back. We've pencilled in the Studio here for Dec-Feb next winter. And we've checked out a retirement visa that would allow us to stay even longer next year. Always dependent on health and world affairs cooperating.

Blogger is soooo annoying. It's put all the pictures in the wrong order and I just can't be bothered to go back and rearrange! 

We discovered a nice new bar on the banks of the Nam Khan. We'd seen it from the bridge numerous times but hadn't been able to work out how to reach it! We finally succeeded - by wending our way down alleyways and dusty tracks. It doesn't look like much, I must admit, but it's friendly and local and the beer is 17,000 kip! (it's 35,000 in the tourist bars)

I had a "Foot Scrub". Slightly mortifying when the girl kept saying "Wow!" and calling her all colleagues over to look!

Our dear old bridge has had a makeover. Gone are the dodgy broken planks, replaced with noisy steel plates. It's better for the faint-hearted I suppose but loses something in the excitement and adventure stakes

This really epitomises Luang Prabang for me. This family have built two houses recently - one of modern concrete and one of traditional rough timber and thatch, with noodle shop attached. Yes, Coca-Cola is there (allowed in Laos in 2015). This is such a beautiful and diverse country in an increasingly mad world. Long may it retain its special sanity.

Temple offerings

It's been burning season in northern Laos and the air quality is not great. At night we can see the hills around ablaze. It sometimes looks a bit like Mount Doom.

There's a sort of local Banksie around

We briefly met a Chinese couple - Jin and Huang - who were staying in the Villa and keen to chat about life in modern China. He's a retired teacher and she an accountant and they are well-travelled all over the world. Sadly, their visit coincided with Trevann's food bug so we were not able to spend as much time together as we had hoped. They left us with this good luck token and hope to meet again

Valentine's day came and went without incident.

The pop-up shops were selling these bouquets this year as well as the usual life-size teddies. We declined both

This is the other bamboo bridge that goes over the Nam Khan at the tip of the peninsula.

It's a popular sunset spot

An oleander hawkmoth caterpillar

Trevann had a nasty bout of food poisoning at the beginning of February which kept him laid up for a week. This was when we first ventured out for a gentle walk round the temples.

So, onwards and upwards. Exciting to be making plans for the future but also enjoying the present. I gather it's pretty chilly in Poole at the moment so we'll need to order some logs in. Not looking forward to the long flight but it has to be done. Bangkok tomorrow. Heathrow on Saturday and back to Poole by midnight (d.v.).