Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for our livers, Reuben flew back to Bangkok and back to work leaving us in Luang Prabang. We stayed a couple more days here and sorted out the car a bit. Having decided that the food is so good and so cheap here that we won't be cooking probably for the rest of the trip, or at least until Australia, we donated the supplies we'd been carrying to our friend living in Phonsavan. As well as the cooking pot that we used only once, and the spare wish bones we'd brought with us as a 'just-in-case' for Mongolia.

So with that stuff, and the HUGE wheely bag Reuben had with him, gone from the car we did a bit of a re-pack. The roof bag had an unlucky scrape when we were trying to squeeze Yoshimi into a heated garage in Mongolia, and we did cover it with duct tape. But the heavy rains had gotten into the bag. We pulled it all down and had a look at the mattress, sheets, blankets, and the felt rug from Kyrgyzstan. Luckily, no mold had developed so we aired out the rug and the sheets. The tent had also been damaged on the base so we may just dump it. Still not bad for 40 Euro!

All the coats and hats and scarves have been packed into the roof box again, and the shorts and sunscreen and insect repellent are out again! It is very warm and humid and although it's the dry season we have been caught in the rain a couple of times.

Down at Vang Vieng we expected a massive party town. This is the place that's been in the newspapers about lots of tourists dying in the river from mixing alcohol, fast flowing river waters and testosterone (much more men than women dying). On our first night there you can imagine our surprise to see the whole place quiet and more like a ghost town! The hotel manager told us the government has cracked down severely; demolished any bars that did not have licenses, made selling alcohol to people on the river by the riverside bars illegal, and installed an 11:30pm curfew.

We went exploring some of the caves and arrived at the main attraction; Phoukam cave and the blue lagoon (not really a lagoon, but a section of the river that's beautifully clear and blue and fairly slow flowing). This cave is such a different experience to the Chinese caves! There was a small stall at the bottom of the hillside and a notice board - "It is PITCH BLACK inside, please rent a torch 10,000 Kip". You then climb up some steps carved from the limestone and when you reach the mouth of the cave that is it. No more hand rails, or steps, or lighting. Just the cave. Gorgeous! Just inside there is a statue of a reclining Buddha and the light shining in reflects off the golden paint. It is really beautiful. As you climb further into the cave it is, as they said, pitch black. Even with our head torch we could just see where to put our feet… but you can't see much further. You feel like a real explorer. It was amazing. And really hot!

It was so great to get back to the river bank and jump into the cool, clean water! But in the time we had been in the cave several tuk tuk's had disgorged backpackers at this spot and we got a glimpse of the party that had just been relocated from the tubing to the blue lagoon. It did seem like fun, but no one really wanted to talk to us… maybe because we're a couple, maybe because we're a bit older… but in any case we carried on and had a nice drive around and crossed a couple of rivers… No ice like the last crossings in Mongolia!

In the evening we visited the only true Irish bar we've seen across the continent - Gary's 'The Rising Sun'. Gary's from Kerry and settled here with a Laotian wife and set up this bar about 4 years ago. Another barman, Paul, was from Cork. They were so excited to see the car that the next day we parked in front and had some photos taken. Bizarrely enough, the pub had Cornish pasties on the menu as well as Irish stew… the place had been run by a Cornishman before Gary took it on. He even recognised the Cornish flag sticker on the back!

One thing we didn't do was to go tubing. This is basically floating down the river on an inflated tyre inner tube. But after our last water rafting experience, where I spent a week telling Fintan he definitely would not die white water rafting down the Nile in Uganda and then nearly did (that's his story and he's sticking to it), I decided best not to harass him into this.

On to Vientiane then, the Capital! The road got a bit worse, mainly because there was more traffic on the road, more scooters and buses mainly. Getting into the city was easy though. The roads are marked well, there are street signs, traffic lights, and even more surprising is that people follow traffic rules! We booked a hotel in the centre for $37 a night - bargain - wifi, breakfast, aircon and parking. Perfect.

In the evening we met up with Greg, our traveling friend from Georgia, who is now working in Laos and made plans to go out to the Phou Khao Kouay National Park on the weekend… so for the next few days we will hang out in Vientiane, with its French colonial architecture, French food (including croissant, French baguettes, coffee, and good wine) and views of the Mekong.