..and finally

Pam and I have been truly amazed at the number of friends and relations who have been following our blog. It started out for us as a record of our journey and turned into a tool by which people could communicate and comment and it was great fun to hear from all our friends back home and in other parts of the world. It's been a truly inspirational trip giving us an insight into how people from other cultures live and hopefully it'll be the pre-cursor for many other trips in the future.
Soooooooo.... thanks to everyone for your contributions and thanks too to the many hundreds(probably thousands) of people with whom we've made contact and friends during the 3.5 months we've been away. Our special thanks go to all those wonderful people who have welcomed us into their countries and made us feel 'at home', from the yankee dudes in Boston to the lovely Raratongans, the friendly Kiwi's to the Aussie sports, the polite Thais to the wonderful Laos people who have little, but offer everything they have.......................thanks a million!

A sudden end

On Saturday 12th Jan, we woke up to a text from our niece Emma, which informed us that Pam's sister Diana, who has suffered from MS for many years, had had a cardiac arrest and was in intensive care on a life support machine in Addenbrookes hospital Cambridge. We immediately set about trying to book tickets to come home and after dashing around various agents, secured flights for Sunday 13th.

We arrived back on Sunday night and have spent some days visiting Di, before travelling back to Glossop on Wednesday. She is still very ill, but has been moved from intensive care to a general ward, where we follow progress carefully.

Luang Prabang

Having 'done' the middle and south of Laos, we wanted to explore the north and so, the following day we said our goodbyes to the friendly staff at the Hotel Pakse and flew to the old capital city of Luang Prabang.

Andy had told us that we should see it and that we would enjoy its many and varied charms.

A two hour flight and 10,000 kip taxi ride and we were in LP by late afternoon. This is a beautiful city and although it attracts many thousands of tourists every year, it still retains its charm and historical interest. It's true that it caters for European and American tastes, but so far, the likes of McDonalds and Starbucks haven't touched this country(phew!!!).

A walk around the evening market was enough to convince us that we really liked the city and we planned to spend 5/6 days here, before moving down to the capital Ventiane, by way of Vang Vien.

However...................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!