So how do you plan on spending your new year? A massive bout of drinking followed by unconsciousness, then waking up the following morning in a pool of vomit (not necessarily yours) next to someone of indeterminate sex who bears a startling resemblance to a moose in a wig? The Hmong have a different take on new year, and it’s a load of balls.

There are many tours in Thailand which offer you a chance to meet the smaller ethnic groups such as the Karen and the Hmong. Such trips usually provide transport to a sad, dusty village where sad, dusty people are wheeled out for the benefit of tourists. I have always avoided such locations and will continue to do so. But when we were offered a chance to go to a field near Luang Prabang where Hmong from all over Laos were congregating for their new year celebrations; then we jumped at the chance.

Around the periphery of the field there were assorted attractions. Of course there was food available:

Tried a few shots against the setting sun this afternoon, and I think this one worked very well with the dying sun reflecting off the mallet and the tail. Slow shutter speed blurred the legs, and the horse was conveniently airborne. Result.

You will be pleased to know that this is the last post on Luang Prabang, although the photos from the Hmong New Year are still to come.

Two full days was not really enough, a week would have allowed me to see most of the town and settle into the flow of the place; maybe we will return some day.

She who must be obeyed was the usual wonderful travelling companion, and her mother was also a delight. She had a tiny little camera which she used to take more photos than I did, and her ability to speak Laos, together with her willingness to talk to anyone, meant she was a great unofficial tour guide.

My other fine companion was my camera and four little lenses. So easy to carry everywhere, and giving me all the shots I wanted (apart from the throttled ducks). Here are a few final images that didn’t fit in other posts:

Sunsets are a photographic cliché. But if you are sat next to the Mekong drinking a lemon shake as the sun goes down, well you might as well capture it (the sunset, not the lemon shake).

Riding a bicycle is a good way to get around Luang Prabang and there are many places that will hire you a bike for not a lot of kip.

My preference for a couple of days in Luang Prabang would be to spend the entire time rambling round the alleys of the town in search of interest and photos. My wife had other ideas, she wanted to go to a waterfall.

It seems to be an obsession of Thais on holiday that they need to visit the nearest waterfall, an obsession I cannot understand because most Thai waterfalls are uninspiring. There are none that I have visited that make you think “this reminds me of Iceland”, and many that make you think “why the fuck have they added all this concrete to a place of natural beauty?”

Our last weekend away to Koh Samet had to include a waterfall trip, and that had been a rather dismal experience; so I was not that keen on wasting half a day to see another dribble on a hillside in Laos; but here we were in a van on the way to the Kuang Si waterfalls.

We arrived around 10:00 and the car park was almost empty; when we came back a couple of hours later it was full. Tip #1: go in the morning before the crowds arrive. There is a small admission fee and then you can either walk up a road to the main falls, or take a track to the right which leads to the lower falls. Tip #2: Take the right hand route. It’s an easy walk that takes you past all the smaller pools and falls before arriving at the top, and you pass a rescued bear sanctuary on the way which is worth a look.

It’s that time of year where the faithful celebrate the crucifixion of the baby JZ for being born a virgin (or something like that, I confuse easily); marking the occasion with several days of greed, rampant consumerism and excessive consumption.

I like to feel that my entire life is built around the triple pillars of greed, rampant consumerism and excessive consumption; so at this time of year I like to do something a little different. I like to humiliate my cats.

Luang Prabang was the capital of Laos and the residence of the king. When the communists took over, dispensed with the monarchy and moved the capital to Vientiane, the town retained its importance as a trading post, sitting at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Colonised by the French, captured by the Thais during the second world war and then handed back to the French at the end of the war, Luang Prabang has had a disturbed history, but one that leaves plenty of interesting architecture for travellers to gawk at. Add in many, many temples, hundreds of monks, surrounding mountains and UNESCO world heritage status; Luang Prabang sounds like it has plenty going for it as a tourist destination.