Day 20

After a good nights sleep we venture out on foot with the intention exploring Luang Prabang. We go back to the Main Street and discus over breakfast a loose plan for the end of Laos to Vietnam journey.... Whilst at home we had spoken of taking a sleeper bus from wherever we happened to be in Laos to Hanoi when our time was up in Laos... On reflection we've now decided to fly. A flight from Vientiane to Hanoi is $80 each as opposed to approximately £20 but only takes around an hour and a half instead of 27hrs on the bus. In any other country and in total contrast to Thailand this would probably be around 12hrs by bus but due to terrible roads and drivers that are so slow and laid back that I'm sure I could run faster sometimes 27hrs is the best the Laos can do.
Whilst walking around looking for flights we notice a company selling motor-cross days on 250cc Hondas around the more rural and remote parts of Laos.... These range from 1 day to 7 day experiences.... This initially interests me more than Shiree but when we inquire we get a familiar response.....
Question - I'd like to book the motor cross day....
Answer - No.... We don't do it....
Response - "But your advertising it in your window" ......
Reply - No..... We don't do it.

We give up having experienced this elsewhere and continue to aimlessly wonder the streets.... Our guesthouse is ideally located close to the Main Street in Luang Prabang and we are once again happy.... Boat trip now a distant memory even though we are almost always next to one of the two rivers of Luang Prabang. Having two rivers meet hear is what's made Luang Prabang so important and its a popular back packer distinction.... The place is lovely and arguably becomes are favourite place so far...
Whilst wondering Luang Prabangs streets we stumble across the Tourist Information Centre and enter in search of a much needed map.
Its here we find another poster for motor-cross trips and take a business card... With map in hand we head off in search of the bike company... Luang Prabang is relatively small and within 20 mins we are sat down having a chat with the French owner of the bike company... It appears to be a well run outfit and we take note of all the prices... Unsure yet if we want to commit, and if we both do it or just me we leave to mull it over, walking in the direction of a large hill with a equally large temple at the very top. 400 steps we climb, passing many golden Buddhas on the way up with view points along the way... At the top there are a number of seats allowing recovery before you descend the other side.... We buy some water and admire the view of both rivers.... The Mekong and the Kahn river. There is a military cannon mouthed into the rock from the Vietnam war era, it appears largely complete, and rust free where many people sit and adjust the leavers everyday.
It's nearly midday and we chat for a while about the following day... We have one full day left and two days worth of activities left to do in Luang Prabang..... There are many waterfalls in the area and there's also the 1000 Buddha cave which I think we passed whilst on the second leg of the slow boat, plus the motor-cross option.
The decision is made to go to the caves ( Pak Ou Caves ) as there unique this afternoon and do the bike day tomorrow, where we will try and include a stop off at a waterfall. We walk back to the bike company... Book up the following day with our own personal guild who will take Shiree on his bike and I'll follow.... They won't allow us to join another coarse they have space on tomorrow if Shiree wants to come as it may slow the day for the other riders so, although more expensive we book a private day... This allows me to ride on my own whilst still having Shiree come along - something she wants to do, for which I'm glad.... Its a while since I've ridden a bike, and these bikes are bigger, it's off road, and when travelling to the off road sections it'll be done on the wrong side of the road where there are no rules.....
Once out of the bike shop, having got ourselves sorted with protective clothing for tomorrow we jump into a pick up style taxi, agree a price and head off to the 1000 Buddha cave...
This is a journey of around one hour and includes some of the bumpiest roads in Laos.... The pick up vibrates constantly trying its hardest to shake itself to pieces.... Welds have long ago broken and pieces of metal flap and crash around making a constant racket along this twisty dusty road that is cut high into the slops of the Mekong river.... An hour later..... Mouths full of dust our pick up stops and we follow its driver down A track to the river bank... Here we learn we have to catch a boat to the Pak Ou Caves.... After much shouting between our taxi driver and the boat men 200 meters up river a long flimsy narrow boat appears and we board... Desperately trying not to rock it. It's like being sat on a pile of wood that's fit for a bonfire... Somehow it floats, and powered by a small lawn mower engine that's initially reluctant to start we enter the faster flowing waters of the Mekong, keen to get on dry land 300 meters away on the other side....
Once off the boat your straight onto a bamboo pontoon which leads to rocks that you climb to gain entrance to the steps that lead to two caves... We are instructed to go up the steps first to the "upper cave" which we do. At the top of the steps there is a girl selling the use of a torch.... So much for the caves being lite as previously advised, having paid for the pick up taxi, the boat, and an entrance fee for the cave we decide they have had enough of our money and enter using the torches on our phones...
They throw ample light for us to see.... The cave is around 30 foot round, with a flat base and goes around 50 meters into the rock face where a huge selection of differing Buddhas have been placed by monks over many years.... Some made of glass, some of concrete and some older ones that are now falling apart from wood. Its a eerie sight in the dim light of a mobile phone torch, but the camera does a good job of lighting the whole cave up.... Most Buddhas are gold coloured, one to two feet tall and ware an orange robe over there shoulder... Some are placed in cracks in the stones, other half hidden under ledges, but most are gathered together on two central platforms. We walk back down to the Lower cave and its also filled like the one above, only this cave is more of a long crack in the mountain that climbs steeply.... The flash of the camera picking up distantly placed Buddhas high up in the cave network above us... The only way to these caves is by boat, and we tentatively climb back into ours as the cave is getting closed for the night.
Once back in Luang Prabang we start a short walk from the taxi drop off point through a night market to our guesthouse.... We are cold and hungry after our pick up taxi ride and it's not long before Shiree has sniffed out food... Theres little pancake things that taste of nothing around an inch wide... Whilst trying to work out what they are we notice an alley-way that's under corrugated iron and tarpaulin cover. Its a hive of activity... We work our way through local people and tourists buying herbs and spices, along with meat, fish and eggs and find among the madness of it all a few stalls in the middle selling cooked food.... It looks interesting as there are many different coloured large bowls stacked high with salads and vegetables... There is a guy trying to put plates in our hands saying 10000 kip.... All you can eat, there's a meat stall next to his selling a selection on different meats.... We go for healthy sized chicken breasts and it all gets heated together.., it was lovely... The best chicken we've ever tasted.....
After enjoying yet more good food in Laos we walk through an open air night market back to our guesthouse for the night... Keeping a ever watchful eye out for warm clothing.... The only thing that did catch our eye being a stall selling a variety of produce made from the aluminium extracted from unexploded bombs dropped during the secret war....

The secret war being the Vietnam War. Laos neighbours Vietnam and was used by the Vietcong, Russia and China as a supply route for there war efforts in Vietnam.... But because it was not officially involved in the war it was deemed illegal for the Americans to bomb Laos in an attempt to interrupt this supply route so it was done in secret.
250 to 260 million bombs were dropped.... B52 bombers dropped a load of bombs every minutes for 9 years into Laos and a
reported 30% failed to explode, which has left Laos with a massive unexploded bomb problem. They still kill or seriously wound remote farmers every week and there clearance is expected to take around 100 years.

Ride to caves
200000 kip
Boat ride
26000 kip
Pak Ou Cave entrance
20000kip
Street food
25000 kip each