Veng Vieng River excursions

Jun 17: Went walking around Vientiane and then down by the river I found the most fab little bar to watch the sun go down (recommended in the LP). It was such a fab little makeshift bar with lots of old wooden seating and tables. It was funny to listen in on conversations around me. This German guy and an American were discussing the merits of Wagner, which oddly enough fitted the venue. There were some locals there as well so it was a very mixed crowd. It was such a lovely place, I felt on such a high there. It was just one of those moments when you feel life is really good. I don't normally drink beer but after trying the Bia Hoi in Viet Nam, I thought I'd see how the local Lao beer was. It was quite nice though didn't finish the whole bottle. I went to dinner in this tex mex place. It was really like the last hope saloon. So I just had to go in as there were 2 locals singing renditions of california dreaming etc. Ended up chatting to an English girl (Lisa) for a while.

Jun 18. I booked a bus for Vang Vieng and when I was picked up there was Yaniv again. I had to laugh. The bus was choca, so I ended up on a plastic seat in the aisle and Yaniv sat near the driver. They had forgotten us, so we were the last on board. Not the most comfortable journey but better than the journey to Hoi An. However, once I started reading my Amy Tan book the 4 hr journey went quickly. That evening, I went to this organic restaurant and who should pop in but Yaniv so we ended up eating together again. We then went onto a bar and wait for it... Actually watched the Austraila/Brazil match. And I had fun. Oh my god what has happened me. I was out til one am then woke at 6 so was knackered the next day.
Jun 19 Whilst having breakfast Yaniv came along so joined me and we watched friends. It is bizarre here. In the Lonely Planet it talks about how many of the restaurants show reruns of Friends and yup they do and yah I'be been watching several episodes. The 2 of us hired mountain bikes and cyled across a few streams and down some dirt tracks to this really deep cave. At the cave we first wondered what the fuss was but it was really quite large and we were the only 2 there, until we were leaving when a few more people turned up. The cave was a bit of a climb but good fun. The best part was it was by a river and there were some swinqs like a trapeze swing albeit with just 1 rope. So you could swing off them into the water. The water was so refreshingly cool, it was fantastic after the heat and the climb. Pottered around there for a while, had some fruit and sweetcorn, bumped into some people and had a chat with them. We then decided to do a loop so we could go to some other villages. However, along the way, we met this Laos guy called Nors from Veng Vieng. He told us that it was a very long way to go to the villages and that we wouldn't make it home by dark. He also just wanted to hang out and follow us so he could practice his English. He was very hard to understand and after a while he started to wear Yaniv's patience, so he cycled off. Me being the more polite one stuck around. Nors had tried to get us to go to his village but we declined. We did catch up with Yaniv a few times as he waited but then he carried on again
Well Nors tried all different tacks, started to tell me that he didn't like Lao girls and that he had an American girlfirend he was waiting on to return. After a while it became apparent that he was trying to pick me up. He is 24. Hey I still got it. Yup the weirdo magnet... I tried in different ways to put him off. I said I had a boyfriend at home, I was too old etc. but no he still wanted to go out with me. Even marry me. Well eventually the heat was getting to me, my sugar levels were crashing and my tolerance hit zero so I said I wasn't going to give him my number or go to his village or anything else and to go find another girl. Finally as I was getting closer to home, he got the hints that I had been throwing like bricks. Caught up with Yaniv again and had a laugh about it and both agreed that Nors was a bit odd to say the least. I was feeling a bit crap so had some food and went to bed early. That will teach me not to eat properly during the day.

Jun 20. Yaniv had met some people (Carlos from Brazil and Noa from Isreal) who wanted to go Kayaking, so we ended up getting a tour. We started off going to the Elephant cave, so called because an elephant had died there and his remains were burned and buried there. It was then a short walk through a village to the next cave, with our guide Bong. This one had a river running through it. We had to get into these huge plastic tubes. Sort of like the inner tube of a tractor and we then followed a rope to get inside the cave. The water was lovely and cool and we had head torches to light the way. It was a laugh. After lunch, We then went kayaking down the river to this makeshift bar. There are quite a few along the river where you can stop off and eat or drink or jump off contraptions built along the river. We stopped at one of these. This bar had a flying fox. This consisted of quite an amazing contraption of ropes etc and a large tree. Basically you climb the tree and hang on to this T bar on a rope. Sort of like a bungy jump just not so high and you are not tied on. You just hold on then as you swing across the water you let go. Simple. Er em yeah. well I got up, was a bit wary of it cos thought it might not be so good for my back but thought back has been great and I can't not do it. So... I couldn't let go the first swing, so swung across a few times before letting go. It does give you a bit of a jolt but it was great so did it again.
Noa, Carlos, Yaniv and I met up for dinner and watched friends for 3hrs until they turned the TV off. It was a laugh.

Jun 21. Was going to get the bus to Loang Prabang but my heart wasn't in it. Just didn't feel like a city just yet. Not that it is that big but... So am here in Veng Vieng for one more day. Said goodbye to Carlos as he was heading to Loang but hope to catch up with him when we there.