We checked out of our VV hotel and took our bags into town. We were headinbg for the capital Vientiane but the idea was that we would still make it an activity based day by kayaking part of the way. So the van was loaded up with lots of big backpacks and off we drove. Almost 2 hours later it was time to start the kayaking (our 3rd time out in Laos, A-M still firmly in the 'steering seat' at the rear.

The start of the dry season seems to have taken the sting out of most of Laos' waterways. There was only 1 rapid in the whole day, although it was a good one, resulting in one of the other kayak's depositing some of its Aussie residents into the river. Our boat refused to drain of any excess water so we had to pop onto the side of the river from time to time to turn it over and dry it out, before carrying on.

At lunch there were some 'big rocks' to jump off. When we got to the top of them, the 9m drop did indeed look very big. Nerves were eventually steeled, and we found that there was time (in mid-air) to close your eyes, open them, and then close them again before making your entry into the water. Some pain did result from inelegant water entry.

After lunch, our '1 hour paddle' seemed much more like 20 minutes, and then we were back in the truck again for the 2hr drive to Veintiane. If you had just done the trip for the kayaking, rather than as a way of getting from VV => Vien with a bit of kayaking thrown in, you would have been a bit dissappointed. Anyway, it meant we got to Vientiane early enough to pick up some bus tickets, and not be overly inconvenienced when the guest house who had e-mailed us to say 'yes we will save a room for you' turned out to have no recollection / knowledge of said e-mail, and were full etc etc.

We met up with J&C from the previous day, and had a very pleasant dinner at 'Sticky Fingers'. A-M rated the chickpea salad very highly, whilst Dave's burger led to a heated (post-meal) discussion on whether a burger 'needs' sauce / relish to be good or whether it should be good or not in its own right. Caroline's gross underestimates of our true ages lends a pleasing haze to the meal as a whole, though.

The biggest party / religous festival in the Laos calendar was taking place that night (or at least part of it was, some of the celebrations had been going on for a week). Fireworks were promised. We tried to convince J&C to come along but the lure of Laos karaoke proved too strong. So we hopped in a tuk-tuk and headed off towards That Luang for the That Luang Festival. Dropped off near the site (traffic was heavy), we made our way across, hoping we were not too late, as no fireworks were visible. We got into the park and looked around. No fireworks. Curses! But, then, a solitary forework made its way up into the sky (not very far, not very explosive, not very loud). Nothing happened for about 60 seconds (literally). Then the same-ish single firework, up and not loud, explosive or impressive in the sky. Then a big gap. Then the same. What a load of old pony! Alex & Ange's firework display of 2001 beat it by a mile (including Alex letting off a firework that from memory caused minor damage to several members of the party). The 'Sky Monkey with Exploding Coconuts' that Dave took to that party was better than the That Luang Fireworks! At least it was so bad that it was good. It was a bit busy and we were a bit tired so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night