So…..where were we? Day 1 of the slow boat down, 1 to go. Spent the night in Pabang, a little island that basically caters to the slow boat river trade. Tried to dodge the "slow boat crew" of young backpackers who drank all day long and played rowdy drinking games (and that's how we know we're old….)but ran into them at the one club/lounge/bar in town. Thank goodness they wore themselves out and day 2 on the river was a little more mellow. And then there was Luang Prabang. Right off the boat and straight to Liberty Guest House for a shower. Dinner that night was at a trendy little restaurant that served a combination of Western and local food and shots in syringes. We all thought that by ordering the local food we could shave off some of the prep time and have dinner in a snap, but the consensus, after waiting over 30 minutes for starters and an hour and a half for dinner, was that they haven't grasped the concept of line cooking and only prepare one dish at a time. Even if 4 people had ordered it. Drinks to follow at the Belgian Beer Bar then onto the bowling alley which is the only place they serve after 11:30 pm. Daisy was the champion of the evening of the serious bowling but then came left-handed, between the legs, hopping and blind folded. Didn't keep scores for those ones but they would have been negligible anyways.

Day 2 in Luang Prabang was used to wander the city and figure out what there was to do. Didn't amount to much because the market didn't open till 6 pm. Phil and I did discover a great restaurant/bar that afternoon called Utopia though, so we took everyone back for dinner. Prabangers and mash all around! (did I mention that the gravy was made from beer?) Unfortunately the market was coming to a close as we were on our way out of Utopia and instead of rush the buying we decided to return the following night. Although we did manage to pick up some nice art work on the fly.

On day 3 Remi, Daisy, Lisi, Phil and I had decided to do another jungle trek. The first part took us to a Khmu village where we were able to visit the school children, teach them "head and shoulders, knees and toes" and listen to them sing their national anthem and a traditional Khmu song. After our lunch we decided to take some treats to the kids and as they were being dismissed for their lunch hour we gave them all some candy for dessert. From the village we backtracked a bit and headed off into more dense jungle on our way to some waterfalls. We could hear it as we approached but none of us expected the little oasis we found. Beautiful clear turquoise water cascading down 3 or 4 tiers into a pool that we were able to swim in. It was absolutely freezing cold but it couldn't be passed up. Lucky for us that our tour guide was an amateur photographer so he stayed up in the hut and snapped some shots for us. Also, Phil had brought along his waterproof housing for his camera so we were able to get some otherwise impossible shots. We continued our trek along some beautiful trails, over bamboo bridges, and right down by the water. This area was actually a conservation area so it was very well kept. Next stop was another waterfall where people could bathe elephants in the water. Once we arrived and realized that you could actually ride the elephants into the water and feed them we signed up. The three girls went first and to be honest it was a little scary. Who knew that elephants love swimming and dunking their entire bodies, head included, right under the water. And apparently Daisy's elephant had a "thing" for my elephant and after some snuggling and bumping in the pool I decided that I would jump off her back and leave the two love birds alone. Unluckily for Phil, he got to ride the same elephant as me and Remi's elephant spent the entire time trying to get very personal with Phil's. Phil spent more time trying to avoid a trunk up the bum then enjoying the ride. Next and last part of the trek was a 2 hour kayak ride home. When we got down to the river and realized how slow it was running and that we would have to work harder than anticipated we got a little dispirited. But two hours later, and a few blisters on the hands and aching backs and shoulders we arrived and were quite pleased with the way the day had turned out. Dinner, shopping at the market and back to Utopia for a drink and ukulele session and we called it a day.

Our last morning in Luang Prabang we decided to go shopping again, this time for the children in the Khmu village we had visited. We were told that they needed pens and books so we set out to find them. Unfortunately we could not find the Book section of town (as all the stores that sell the same things are right next to each other) so we settled for some brightly coloured pens and some toys that they could play with in their lunch break or outdoor time. It was at this point that we had to say goodbye to Remi and Daisy as they were not going to Vang Vieng but straight on to Vientiane.

Vang Vieng is the town that made Laos famous for tubing. Unfortunately there have been some serious accidents in the past and the government had decided to step in and clean it up two months before we arrived. So our first night was spent finding a guest house, dinner on the water with a server that we could not decide was male or female, then a drink at Fat monkeys. Again, everything shut down at 11:30 so it suited us old folk perfectly.

Our only full day in Vang Vieng was spent tubing down the river with beer in hand. Dan, who has a bit of a clumsy side, managed to get his tube stuck in 6 inches of water, drop his beer in the river and lose his wedding ring while trying to retrieve them, all in the first 10 minutes of the trip. That out of the way, and Rachel at home in the guest house and having no idea about the ring, we had a lovely day floating down the river and stopping for drinks along the way. The ending point came upon us rather suddenly and Phil was the only one who managed to get out unscathed. I dropped my knee into the riverbed to stop myself (while dropping the dry bag in the water at the same time. Thank goodness Dan was down stream and was able to catch it), Dan hurt his foot while walking to the jagged rocks, and Lisi had a local child offer to carry her tube for her then refuse to return it without getting paid. Cheeky b*****. On our way back to the guest house Dan was able to find a ring that was a suitable replacement for the one at the bottom of the river and had to break the news to Rachel. It was an early night that night…..

Last morning before getting back on a bus for the trip to Vientiane, we got our laundry back and all the whites were pink. Apparently they don't separate the colours here. Instead of making a scene (and possibly getting thrown into a Laos prison) we took it on the chin and peaced out.

Vientiane is the capital of Laos. When we arrived and found out that there was a huge national celebration to commemorate the end of rainy season, we realized that half the population had arrived at the same time. That being said, we didn't really participate that much. We were templed out by this point and spent a majority of our time in a restaurant down the street called Oktoberfest. The first restaurant we stopped at for dinner was next to a beautiful fountain with a live band playing. Unfortunately their menu read like a veterinarian's anatomy book (lots of intestine and bladder things) hence Oktoberfest over and over again. That first night in Vientiane we decided to check out the local night life. We got to the recommended club around 10 pm and it was packed and playing bad house music. We made the most of it and danced like it was 1999. Phil couldn't make it that night as he wasn't feeling well but I think it would have been right up his alley. The ugly lights came on at 11:30 closing time and although we had fun I was happy to leave that place behind. The next day Remi and Daisy had to part ways with us for good as their vacation had come to an end. After seeing them off, the remainder of the wolf pack decided to walk through the fair grounds, watch the balloons being set off, the candles put to sea and then called it a night. I have to admit that I was a little disheartened by Laos because we had some money stolen from one of the bags in our room. That along with the laundry incident and the proprietors getting kind of nasty with us, I was ready for Cambodia. And what a nice trip we had! Instead of a 28 hour journey by bus and minivan on mostly unpaved roads, Phil, Lisi and I decided to fly! How civilized!