VIANG VIENE - TUBING, CAVING & KAYAKING

So we are now in Viang Viene so stand by for an update.

6th July
We head to a pub called lao lao for dinner. We order a bbq feast and our table (which is outside) is transformed into our very own BBQ right before our eyes. We find it pretty hard to manage by candlelight and with chopsticks but we make do. We do indeed meet Aussie Alex for a beer or two and also English Pete. At around 10.30pm we decide to go to a club outside of town that a local had told us about. The four of us jump in a tuk tuk and speed a few miles out of town to a club. We get inside and seem to be the only white people there in a club that is rammed. We order 4 large beer lao's and decide to do a circuit of the dancefloor. A band are playing but they soon finish and a very saucy young lady takes over and plays hip hop tunes while wildly gyrating in the DJ booth. We make it on to the dancefloor but decide it's really not our scene so we jump in a tuk tuk back to our guest house.

7th July
Our alarm goes at 6.45am and we both feel rather rough after quite a few large beer laos last night. We get a tuk tuk to the bus station and meet a dutch couple that were on our slow boat - Robert and Esther. They have already been travelling for 5 months and have a lot of good things to say about New Zealand, as indeed does everyone we have met to date.

The bus winds up some mountain roads and into the clouds where there are tiny villages. We stop at one for a 10 minute toilet break and you have to wonder what these people do up here. Basically they live - breed chickens and water buffalos, farm some rice and sell the occasional can of coke to passing tourists.

We stop of at a second tiny village for lunch of rice and vegetables and in our hungover state we wolf it down.

After lots more windy roads and avoiding water buffalos that seem to prefer standing on the road rather than munching grass, we make it to Viang Viene. My first impression was 'is this it?' as the bus stop is on an old abandoned dusty air strip that is just outside of town. We jump in a tuk tuk along with Robert and Esther and a french couple and head to look for a suitable guesthouse. The first one, recommended by lonely planet is full, but just along the road is a new one called Grand View guest house and we book in for $12 a night with a view of the river, mountains, the sunset and a balcony - well worth it!

We unpack our bags in a huge room with a super king size bed and a single (just in case Lynn snores too much). We wander around town and are not immediately impressed as there are a number of bars playing old episodes of Friends at ear splitting volume. We soon find a nice Indian restaurant and have dinner and an early night.

8th July
After a great sleep we wake feeling refreshed and go for breakfast. I have a huge salami and cheese salad bagquette and Lynn opts for french toast. We decide to take part in Viang Vienes most famous activity - river tubing. Basically this involves getting in a huge blown up tyre tube and floating down the river. It is very peaceful, relaxing and even quite romantic. There are riverside bars and jumps you can stop off at but we decide to chill out and just float and admire the scenery. Laos is very green with lots of mountains and rivers. A bit like Scotland only warmer!

In the afternoon we hire bikes and cycle 10k out into the country and back again. Just before sunset the heavens open and there is an amazing rain storm that we stand and watch from our balcony. It soon passes and we head out past the bars that play old episodes of Friends and find a lovely Laos restaurant where we order = grilled fish with lime, veg and rice for Lynn and grilled fish with garlic and ginger, veg and rice for me. That along with 2 7ups and 2 bottles of water comes to 60,000 kip, or 3 quid in english!!!!

We book a day of caving and kayaking tomorrow for $12 each.

9th July
Another good sleep after our second alcohol free night in a row. We have banana pancakes for breakfast from a local street vendor (made fresh for only 10,000 kip, or 50p each) to give us some energy for the day ahead. We get a truck with 10 others to a small village 17k from town. We chat with a couple of English girls - Laura and Helen and two English guys Simon and Charlie.

The first cave we go to isn't that impressive but the second is amazing. It has a river running into it. We swim for 30 minutes in a pool outside and wait for another group to come out so we can jump on the tyres and get their head torches. There is a rope for guidance and we pull ourselves in. It is definitely one of the coolest things I have done and pretty hard to describe - not for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia!

We spend 20 minutes or so in the cave before emerging back into splitting sunshine and lunch. After lunch we kayak back into town. stopping off at a bar that has a huge trapeeze swing out into the river that I have a shot on. We kayak fairly well and don't fall in at the rapids unlike some others.

We're now golden brown after two days in the sun - tubing, biking and kayaking. We're going out for dinner and possibly a beer or two to rehydrate.

LOVE TO ALL