To get to Vientiane we decided rather than sit on a bus we would do something different and Kayak instead. We took the two day option which included a nights stay in a little town on the edge of Lake Ang Nam Ngum, which is man made behind a hydro electric dam.
Most of the kayaking was easy going on wide rivers surrounded by outstanding scenery. There were a few rapids that were relatively easy to negotiate and one big scarey one that ended up being a lot of fun :).
After grabbing our rooms at the guesthouse, we took a long boat out to one of the islands in the lake where a late swim was enjoyed before watching the sun set over a few more Beer Lao's.
The night ended up being a huge one courtesy of the large jar of rice wine..... foul tasting but definately effective! All good fun until you have to get up pretty early the next morning to face a long day of paddling. Good for those upper body muscles though!
All in all a great experience and far better than taking a bus ride....if a little slower though. Also nice for us to have discovered a new adventure sport where Clare has so far avoided breaking any bones!
We are now in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Its not a bad city at all but we are off tonite already on a 10 Hour overnight bus down south. we are hoping to get to Si Phan Don which is right on the Cambodia border. Lots of islands in the Mekong with dolphins swimming around.....should be a good relaxation week or so before we hit Vietnam. Not sure what the internet facilities will be like down there, so you may not hear from us for a while....a sigh of relief do we hear?? ;)
Hope this finds everyone well.
PS. Happy Birthday to all those March babies out there...Clares Dad, Aaron, Ferg, Rob, Cody, Danna, Brett, Grant, Maxine and any one else that we can't quite remember off the top of our heads!
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