This is a place from a different era.

We had breakfast in the quiet courtyard of the hotel. We were running a bit late and the breakfast came slowly. The tour guide arrived and said to relax we were on holiday. It seems to be the way here, relaxed.

The guide was to bring us to some temples, to lunch and then to a waterfall. I don’t know what I expected but reality was better.

We only managed to visit two temples because they didn’t really interest the 3 year old but the two we did visit were stunning.

But when the boy was done he was quite clear there would be no more temples!

We climbed the 320 steps from the banks of the Mekong to the top of a hill passing Buddha’s footprint and some monks on the way. From the top we could see the whole town and the two rivers. Refreshments were needed at the top but the view was worth it.

After we descended we had lunch on the riverbank and my children had their first experience of a squat toilet.

The Clerkin princesses were not impressed!

Then it was an hours drive out of town to the waterfall. It was 30km away but took an hour to drive at the slower Lao pace.

There is a bear sanctuary on the walk to the waterfall where bears that are rescued from illegal traders in the north of the country are kept. John spotted Daddy Bear, Mammy Bear and Baby Bear but no Goldilocks.

Though quite a few tourists thought they had found goldilocks as John and the twins were in great demand all day to pose for photos with random people. Apparently blonde children are fascinating.

You can swim in the pools at the waterfall but Katie had read about the parasites that live in the river water so we decided just to watch and then head back to the hotel pool for a swim.