We got picked up in a minibus this morning to take us to the main bus station, where we boarded our VIP bus to Kong Lo. As we were getting on the bus we saw 2 familiar faces - Natalie and Mai who we went tubing with in Vang Vieng! They were also on their way to the caves, and there were quite a few other Western people on the bus who were also heading there. The bus journey took about 6 and a half hours and for most of the way we had to listen to very loud Lao...

Today we were picked up at 9am and whisked to the bus station for our short ride back to the capital, Vientiane - only 3 hours this time! We were very tempted to book into Hotel Khamvongsa again after our last stay, but we decided that we should really stay somewhere cheaper this time so we headed to Saysouly Guesthouse instead when we arrived. We'd found this place in the Lonely Planet guidebook and it was OK, although it was a bit tired and needed updating. O...

We had planned to go tubing again today (without the drinking!) and take our camera this time, but when we woke up we really couldn't be bothered! We left the hotel around lunchtime and headed to our favourite bar, which has a big menu, free wifi, and plays Friends constantly! We spent a few hours there on the internet, trying to catch up with the diary, and of course watching classic Friends episodes! On the way back to the hotel we picked up our souvenir Van...

Tubing day! We were awake quite early and after getting ourselves ready we headed to a nearby café to fill up on breakfast. I went for another American (i.e. English) Breakfast; there's not really much choice here as the Lao people have rice dishes for breakfast and we still can't bring ourselves to eat chicken fried rice as the first meal of the day! Then we walked down the road to the tube rental office…we were instantly presented with a waiver to sign to...

Time to move on from Luang Prabang - we've had a great few days here, best place in Laos so far…but we're off to Vang Vieng which is a bit of a backpacker 'must-do' destination in SE Asia. Everyone goes there for 'tubing', where you hire an inflatable tyre and float down the river, stopping at riverside bars along the way. We've heard mixed reviews about it but decided that we have to do it! The town is supposed to be very backpacker oriented and nothing at a...