Home of the world's best quiche - Luang Prabang

It was already dusk by the time we arrived in Luang Prabang on Thursday. The town (it only has around 26000 inhabitants) is Unesco World Heritage Listed due its French colonial architecture, beautiful wats and attractive streets, as well as its position on the banks of the Mekong river.We had chosen a guesthouse from our guidebook so headed off to check it out. It turned out to be a very grand sprawling building with a big garden, with rooms that just stopped short of too expensive for us.

We spent Thursday night checking out the night market in town. All the stalls have red canopies, and many are selling brightly coloured scarfs and shawls, so it all looked very pretty and was fun just to browse. We had dinner at a fairly expensive restaurant, which offered set meals that were also sampling platters of Lao cuisine. We tried bamboo spring rolls, pork with vermicilli noodles and cashew nuts, and a couple of different chicken curries. 

After a noisy night thanks to the cockerel and dog in the garden, we embarked on what was to be a momentous day in my life: the day I discovered the best quiche in the world. This position was previously held by my mum's quiche but sadly the quiche lorraine at Joma bakery in Luang Prabang has won that coveted title. The chocolate croissants there were also pretty good, and the coffee was strong and really nice, but the quiche was just the best thing ever.

The rest of the day was inevitably going to be anti-climatic after such blissful heights, but it was still pretty enjoyable. We spent it looking round town, which felt like a cross between the Wild West and Paris. The streets are dusty and there is no glass in the shop fronts, but there are also many chic wine bars and bakeries, charging prices which would be a bargain in France but seem shocking after Thailand. At sunset we climbed up to Phou Si, a temple at the top of a hill overlooking Luang Prabang. The views of spectacular, although due to the cult of Lonely Planet everyone else knew they would be too, and it was very crowded. We saw several people from the slow boat again, including the Schizophrenic American and the Talkative Canadian.

 We bought dinner from the baguette stalls which line the main boulevard. As well as fresh baguettes most of them sell fruit shakes and sponge cakes in different flavours - my favourite was jackfruit cake.

On Saturday morning we had plans to cycle the 32km to a waterfall called Tat Kuang Si, but the tourist information office was closed and without a map we were unsure of how to get there. Instead we arranged to share transport there with two German girls. The waterfall was fairly impressive, but the turquoise pools surrounding it made it really stunning. We went swimming there for about two hours, in water which was colder and deeper than it first appeared. At points there were natural jacuzzis formed by the waterfall, which were fun to sit in. Over the course of the day we also saw the American and the Canadian again, as well as the two smiley English girls from the boat.

 Back in Luang Prabang we went out for dinner to a little restaurant covered in fairy lights, on the bank of the Mekong. Beyond the restaurant looking across the river the night was pitch black - Laos is so underdeveloped there is often nothing at all for several hundred kms. In much of Southeast Asia it's customary for everyone at the table to share all the dishes, so food for different people often comes pretty far apart. Dave had chicken noodle soup which was very good, but which I was staring at for about twenty minutes before my Luang Prabang salad came. This is a regional specialty and consists of a kind of watercress particular to this part of the Mekong, sliced boiled eggs, cucumber and tomatoes. We also ordered bamboo spring rolls again - they have a crunchier texture than ordinary spring rolls and I'm starting to prefer them. To come - action adventure in Luang Prabang! Rugby boys! Near drowning experience! Jungle treks on the back of an elephant!