Laos day 10 – Luang Prabang

Still not feeling great but improving slowly.  We spend the morning talking to a Swiss fellow-guest who is one of those people who seems never to draw breath and likes to regale people with his pet hates and hobby horses.  This keeps us distracted for most of the morning, although Andy manages to escape for a while to go to the cash machine.  But any hope of having a quiet period to catch up on the blog proves futile. We have a map of a wetland walk through the centre of town, which takes in some of the many ponds that are dotted around the area south of the peninsular.   Its hard to believe that there is a wetland area here; we have seen no signs of anything remotely resembling wetland in our wanderings thus far.  The reason, we quickly discover, is that they are hidden away from prying eyes off little lanes down which tourists rarely tread.  In fact, we encounter few people as we explore these picturesque oases covered with lilies and pond weed and sheltered by towering palm trees.  Secret little tracts of undisturbed nature tucked away in the heart of town.