Hi everyone!

After our last blog we visited Pak Ou caves. These are natural caves in which Buddhist shrines have been liberally sprinkled. It was a hot tuk tuk ride to the river which we had to cross to enter the caves. There were many steps to climb but the caves themselves were cool. We really liked Luang Prabang, There was good food and amazing markets in which we could have spent all of our savings. There was something comfortable and familiar with the French colonial architecture.

The next day we caught a minibus to Vang Vieng. It was a very steep and winding road which takes, apparently, 5 hours (or 7hrs in Laos time). The scenery along the way was absolutly stunning, rivaling New Zealand. The mountains are more jagged and steep than NZ and are dotted with bamboo huts (photos to follow).

We've been in Vang Vieng for 3 days now. We've spent most of it chilling and watching constant episodes of 'Friends' and 'Family Guy' which are played in most of the bars and restaurants. Yesterday we did the infamous attraction of Tubing, in which you spend a lazy 2 hours (or 4 in Laos time) traveling down a slow river whilst patronizing the many makeshift bars and rope swings along the way. Lots of fun!

We hope to visit some more caves and possibly spend a day kayaking here, but the tummy bugs have finally caught up with us (probably due to swallowing too much river water). But we're in no rush as we are finding Laos more relaxing and friendly than Thailand as a whole. We'd certainly recommend visiting here (albeit at a cooler time of year).

Hope all's well,

love Matt and Jo x x x x