The Mekong Menagerie

We slept in this morning, and woke up to a peacefully quiet guesthouse. Jilaya guesthouse has a pet monkey and a pet deer. The monkey is tied to a leash, and can be quite rambunctious if he sees that you have something he wants. But he's very cute and entertaining, sucks his tumb to get attention, and snuggles up under his blankie at night. The deer is so sweet. She has a small bell tied around her neck, so we call her "Tink." She is friendly, loves to lick our hands, and is incredibly soft. She sleeps in the garden right outside the door to our room. They also have fish in the ponds around the garden, lizards, and we found the tiniest frog we've ever seen hopping along the path.

We managed to drag ourselves out of the hotel room, hired some bicylces, and spent the day riding around Luang Prabang. It is a beautiful, small town (less than 20,000) in a valley surrounded by mountains and the Mekong and Phu Si rivers. There are many wats and cafes and reminds us of Hoi An, Vietnam. We hiked up to the top of Phu Si mountain in the centre of town to eat the rest of our lunch, enjoying the wonderful view of the entire town and surrounding mountains. There are a few wats on top of the hill as well. Completely knackered from all of this activity, we headed back to the guesthouse for a nap before going out to explore the night markets. While looking for a place to eat dinner, we had the pleasant surprise of running into Tim and Barry, the Irish guys we spent some time with in Cambodia. Full from a tiring day, we headed to bed early.