Our transportation options to get to Luang Prabang from Huay Xai were pretty limited. On recommendation from people we had met, me, Jeff, Mark, Katie and Henry from Guernsey and Jay and Jeanette from Amsterdam, all opted for the 2 day long boat trip along the Mekong river. We were all up pretty early to get good seats on the boat and were pleasantly surprised to find we were the only people on the boat...but it was early. Apparently the boat schedule completely depends on how quickly they can fill every possible space on the boat - including the floor - and by the time that happened we had been sitting and waiting for nearly 4 hours!! So where we thought we would have a leisurely and comfortable journey, it actually turned out to be totally crammed and cold. On the other hand though, it was a fantastic way to take in the breathtaking scenery of Laos' countryside. All along the river were lush green forests on mountains and hills. Every now and then we would float past small villages set up on the riverbed, and got to see the local fisherman at work, the women washing their hair and clothes in the river and the kids playing on the rocks. When you are running from city to city you spend most of your time at the typical tourist spots and miss out on the real life of the locals so it was pretty cool to see it.

We passed the time of the 2 days reading, sleeping, listening to music, playing cards and chatting. On the evening of the first day, the boat docked in a small town on the river called Pak Beng where we would spend the night. Our group met up for a unexpectedly good Indian dinner - there we were - 3 South Africans, 2 Dutch and 2 English sitting in an Indian restaurant in Laos!

We left for Luang Prabang early the next morning. We arrived just before the sun set which gave us time to search for a decent guest house and get settled before reuniting for dinner in the night market. Another 2 friends from the Gibbon Experience, Danielle and Jeff, met up with us as well and after dinner we headed to a bar for a few drinks. Utopia was set up along the river with tables and loungers set up on a deck overlooking the Mekong and a huge garden behind it beautifully lit up and furnished with stone tables and chairs in secluded spots. We parked ourselves in one of these spots and spent our night drinking BeerLao at R8 per litre bottle.

Me, Jeff and Mark rented bicycles the next day and went on a ride around the town. Its a great way to see the city because you cover much more ground than when you are on foot. During the day of cycling we rode through the streets of the town and stopped off at Luang Prabang's Wat Xieng Thong and ended the day at a sweet riverside restaurant for a couple fruit shakes to watch the sunset over the Mekong. The 3 of us met up with Jay and Jeanette for dinner again that night - this time to Lao Lao Garden. The restaurant was a tree covered courtyard set up with tables which had holes in the middle which were filled with a clay pots filled with coals to keep us toasty throughout dinner. A brilliant concept that Jeff and Mark believed would go down very well in JHB. We were later joined by Katie and Henry and a few friends of theirs that they had met at their hostel and had a few drinks before heading back to our guest house after a long day.

On our second day we, along with Jay and Jeanette, rented a tuk tuk to take us on a day's excursion to 2 of the city's biggest attractions. The first - the Pak Ou caves was a bigger than a small disappointment. It took us about an hour on a horrible gravelly road to get to a dock where we had to pay to get a boat across the river, where we had to pay an entrance fee. We all had high expectations (after all it is one of the highlights in the Lonely Planet) but walking into a slight hole in the mountain face filled with hundreds of Buddha statues just didn't cut it. We still had hope though - there was an upper cave to visit as well which could only be reached by climbing a large number of steep steps. So off we climbed, only to be greeted by another slight hole in the rock. Booooooo!!! The only thing that made the visit worthwhile was seeing a 89 year old American summit the stairs with only the aid of a walking stick - and barely out of breath. Quite an inspiration!

Our second stop was the Kounag Si Waterfall. We had a crappy lunch at one of the restaurant stalls set up outside the falls' entrance where Mark received an uncooked chicken breast which they claim was definitely the stir-fry he had ordered. Nonetheless, the waterfalls did not disappoint. The park had many turquoise blue rock pools with paths set up in the natural vegetation surrounding them that led to the tallest of the falls which was beautiful to look at. We spent 2hours wondering the paths and taking pictures and then headed back to town for our last dinner in Luang Prabang. Tomorrow me, Jeff and Mark were off to Vang Vieng - the biggest party spot of Laos and possibly of SE Asia!

We had heard many stories - 'If the devil doesn't live in Vang Vieng, he definitely has an apartment there', 'Beware!!!', 'Prepare yourself!' etc... The city's draw card is tubing. It all sounds very innocent - tubing peacefully down the river - but the 'peacefully' bit never happens. Instead, someone decided to put a bar up along the river in case the tubers got thirsty and needed 2for1 buckets of a few shots of free whisky. And the idea caught on - the river is now littered with bar upon bar blasting music, offering free drinks and swings into the river. The 3 of us braised ourselves and headed to the tubing starting point with an ex South African, Sarah and her Australian boyfriend, James who we had met as we arrived in town the previous day. We were armed with only our tubes, costumes and cash... and the madness began at 1:00pm. Until 6:00pm we were either at a bar or on our tubes floating to a bar - drink in hand!!! We drank, floated and danced our way through the day and by the end of it we were all well and truly smashed! Jay and Jeanette came though the Vang Vieng that day and we met them for dinner - they had a good laugh at the 3 of us slurring our way through dinner and swearing we would never do it again.

Our will however did not last very long as we were back on the water the next day to do it all over again, this time with Jay and Jeanette. We continued through the night at Qbar in town to say our farewells to Mark who was leaving for Vientienne the next day. We loved travelling with VJ and were very sad to see him go the next morning. Jeff and I had decided to stay on in Vang Vieng because the city itself, away from the river bars, is actually a beautiful tranquil place filled with restaurants decked out with low tables surrounded by cushions instead of chairs where you can lie back and enjoy the huge menus, Family guy or Friends on the big screens or of views of the sun setting behind the mountains while playing cards or reading.

On one of the 4 extra days we spent there after Mark left, we went with Jay and Jeanette on an excursion to some of the beautiful caves in the area. This time, they did not disappoint. We were led through 2 deep caves for about 2 hours in total. The coral-like limestone structures and stalagmites and tites were other worldly. The dark, echoey, slippery march through the caves was very exciting - a new environment that we can check off the list. The 3rd cave we went into was not by foot - we stripped down to our cossies, boarded tubes and pulled ourselves a few hundred metres though a long, dark, cold waterlogged cave with only our head torches to light the way. It doesn't sound too fun, but once our bodies got used to the temperature and out eyes got used to the dark, we actually loved floating through this underground world! After a hearty lunch, we took an 11km walk through the outskirts of the city - through agricultural fields and gravelled roads with the lush green mountains in the background. We walked until we reached the first bar along the river where we took a breather over a beer.

That night we met up with Jeff from Holland yet again!!! Our third country with the man! He was travelling with a South African guy, Craig and his Irish girlfriend, Michelle. The 3 of them joined us and Jay and Jeanette for a long leisurely dinner and for a drink at a bar in town. Just as we were about to leave, I turned to the entrance and see Howie Somerfeld walk through the door. We were so excited to see a face from home - in the middle of Laos of all places!! our group headed back to our respective guest houses at around midnight...said our final farewells to Jeff and our until tomorrows with J&J because the 4 of us were heading to Vientienne the next day.