We had the whole morning free at the jungle resort so after breakfast I took advantage of the cool, misty weather and made a 5 mile loop-de-loop circuit of the various walks on site. I finished with my favorite walk thru the bamboo, “forest bathing” say the Japanese.

At 12:30pm we departed Nam Kat for the high speed train station in the nearby town. They are so strict on what you can take on board we had to box up all our sharps, liquids over 3oz, any sprays, etc. 3 days ago so we could mail them ahead to Luang Prabang.

The train only stops for 5-7 minutes so there’s a scrum of people getting off/on. Chai warned us several times to stick together like glue and board as one group, elbows out to anyone trying to butt ahead! We made it on, but with our big luggage we were the last ones off the platform and were being shooed aboard by the conductors.

The journey was a non-event as it definitely didn’t get to bullet speed and 95% of it was in tunnels but it cut a 6h van ride to 1h so no one complained.

We arrived in Prabang Lubang around 3pm and had free time to wander until our 6:30pm gathering for the Night Market and optional dinner after. I stocked up on water and had some fried rice at a riverfront cafe – I don’t like eating so late….

At 4pm gonging started all throughout the Old Town. It was time for 2nd prayer at the many temples here. # temples = # monks, tomorrow we’ll participate in to Alm’s Giving to them at 5:45am 🥱

At 6:40pm we met Chai for a walk down to the Night Market where he set us free to explore. LP is gorgeous at night – vibrant, colorful, elegant boutique hotels & hip cafes. Even the goods in the market are fun and colorful, apparently ~80% made in Laos which is unique.

Early to bed though, 5am wake up call tomorrow….