Day 145-150: River + Tyre = Good Times

Apologies for the delay in posting; for 5 days now we've been in Vang Vieng; where the internet is outrageously expensive and the booze is far far too cheap.
It is, admittedly, not the culture capital of Laos but there is much partying to be done so we figured it'd be rude not to get stuck in...the name of the game here is tubing and the rules are as follows;

1) Get a vest with the word 'tubing' printed on it at least twice
2) Take this vest and a tube - an inflated inner-tyre (massive rubber ring) - north up the Mekong River to the aptly-named 'Bar 1'
3) Receive your first free Lao Lao whiskey shot of the day (note with shock that there are wasps in the bottle from which you are drinking....this will cease to matter later on)
4) Buy your first bucket / beer of the day
5) Mingle on the decking in the sunshine with some newly acquired friends
6) Slide down a flume with your tube (drink is optional here - but recommended) into the river and sail onto the equally-inspired-named 'Bar 2'
7) Receive another free Lao Lao whiskey shot...or three
8) Swing off a trapeze into the river, get hauled back in by grabbing onto a rope thrown out to you
9) Drink more, dance more vigorously
10) Sitting in your tube, float down to...yes...you've guessed it 'Bar 3'
11) Receive more free shots, better still; just cut the sting off one of the afore mentioned wasps and eat the wasp [equivalent to 2 buckets of alcohol, so we hear...]
12) Play drinking games with your new best friends
13) Drink more, jump of more trapezes and dance with less and less regard for the rhythm of the music
14) Locate your tube and set sail to 'Bar 4'
15) Eagerly receive another free shot of Lao Lao...
16) You get the picture
...
Try to make it back to the finish point (Bar 10) by 6pm to return your tube and continue the party well into the night

That's right dear readers; tubing is a day time activity but the fun does not stop there! When we weren't too hungover to party (roughly every other day) we were out and about meeting all sorts of wonderful people - Rob even bumped into a course mate from uni! - and dancing to what could have easily been a Saturday night in Bournemouth.

We were really lucky with the weather too and had glorious sunshine and blue skies all day, every day. Team 365 is happy to have left with everything (if not our livers) intact* and to have avoided the dreaded pink eye (conjunctivitis) which spreads through backpackers here faster than the Mekong does through the town.

All in all - it was awesome; everyone should tube!


*due to the responsible and safety-conscious matter in which we tubed, Mums, this was not a surprise

Day 138: The Loop [day 3]

The last stop on our almost- Motorcycle Diaries adventure was a 7km long cave called Kong Lo and it was even more spectacular than we had imagined a cave that was 7km long would be.

We had opted for the more cost-effective method of sharing a car with some other travellers also staying at our hostel and so after a big breakfast (look how happy Rob is with his eggs and half-a-loaf of bread) we arrived in style and ambled our way to the river down a lovely wooded path.

At the rivers' edge the guys in the 'Boat Committee' (so the sign on the wooden hut read) sprang into action and armed with head torches and super stylish life jackets (Jeff, below, proving that day-glo is still very much en vogue) we sailed in longboats to the mouth of the cave where we climbed off and ventured inside.

Just inside the cave there were more boats waiting; engines were quickly carried into the boats by our two drivers, both with really bright head torches wired up to battery packs at the waist (safety first.) We climbed in and departed at full speed into the darkness.

The cave is incredible; you could barely see where the stony walls ended and the murky waters began. Stalactites hung from the ceiling while water dripped and bats flapped and squeaked overhead - just as I was wondering how on earth these guys navigated through the blackness we turned a corner and saw daylight, we also saw that some rapids had formed and we were heading straight for them. When you think about it; one little bump into the slimy walls isn't too bad. The boat tipped left and right and we took in some water but the engine powered through and we were back on course in no time. Actually; I think it was my favourite bit of the ride.

Stopping on the river bank we waded to shore and had a wander around the local village; which was a quaint and muddy experience - my boots had been well and truly broken into that kind of thing on day 1 and it was nice to squelch around again, really.

We were returned the same way again, still marveling at nature, and all-in-all the round trip was about 3 hours and well worth the visit. We were smoothly deposited back at our hostel; slightly cleaner and much drier than we had started our Laos-based motorcycling adventures, but we've definitely got a taste for it so expect plenty more two-wheeled trips from 365.

Day 137: The Loop [day 2]

Okay. We admit it. We cheated; The Loop is for hardened cyclists, the kind of people that want to burn rubber, come out caked in mud and have a thousand bugs die on their chiseled cheekbones as they roar through the country side at 100 mph on two screeching wheels.

We got the bus.

Actually we got two buses, and in true local fashion we made our way to Ban Na Him in jumbos (open-back truck with two benches along the side) travelling with a motorbike, a puppy, a ladyboy and - at it's peak - 19 other people. It was cosy and, as we discovered later, not actually the cheapest or quickest way to do it...ah well!

In Ban Na Him we found a hostel and dined with the owner and her extended friends and family over alot of Beer Lao and brushed up on our language skills; dun beer lao (drink beer) and jun jar (cheers) are now well and truely in our vocabularory.

We also arranged to visit the local attraction, Kong Lo Cave, with a Korean/French group that were also staying at the hostel; this meant going in the luxury of a car rather than on motorbikes as we had originally intended - but it was cheaper and easier and I was well on my way to being pretty hungover in the morning.

Day 136: The Loop [day 1]

'The Loop' is a off the beaten track route around the Bolikhamsai & Khammuan provinces. Most travellers will spend 3-4 days on a motorbike to complete the whole loop but after being rained-in and most definitely rained on while at the Bolavan Plateau we decided to adjust the itinerary a little.

We set off bright and early from Tha Khaek with Steve and Jeff and after an initial detour (which was literally taking the scenic route in this case) we found our way on the smooth roads of Route 12 to our first stop; Tham Pha Fa; a remote cave filled with Buddha statues. The amazing thing about this cave, apart from how so many stone statues got there when it was discovered by a local farmer in 2004, is that in the dry season it is accessible by foot. When we arrived kids were throwing themselves off a bridge into the swollen river and we had to access the cave by boat; we sailed above bars and tables and benches and scrambled up the rock face into the cave.

Our next stop meant some more boating and we sailed out of the glorious sunshine and into the darkened Xieng Liap; a stalactite-filled cave where a monk and a beautiful young lady were meant to have secretly met. The name literally means monk (xieng) and sneaking around (liap).

But the bike tour needed to go on and our third and penultimate stop was to be the most adventurous yet. We'd heard that the dirt track to The Falang could get a little hairy in the wet season so when we rolled off the tarmac and into thick sticky mud we quickly disguarded the motorbikes and took off on foot. The path that we hoped lead to the shady swimming spot went from muddy to very muddy and we eventually ended up wading through a puddle that was waist height - it was awesome. Luckily our navigation had been accurate and we found the cool spot and slid down the muddy bank into the cool waters of the Nam Don river for a swim.

The sun was out in force (hurray!) so the river was a welcomed break - and a good chance to confuse some bemused locals that were either telling us with hand actions that the path was impassible because the water was shoulder height, or they were happily telling us that they'd slit our throats. Thankfully neither occurred.

Our last and final stop in this, the southern section of The Loop, was at Tham Aen; a huge cave that we had to wade over a river to get to. As the sun set we made our way round the gloomy interior by incredibly useful, if a little un-aesthetically pleasing, staircases that had been built in.

Under a starry sky we sped back to Tha Khaek to enjoy a beer and dinner at one of our favourite spots on the Mekong; a place where you can in fact see Thailand. Which is pretty special really.

Day 1 on The Loop had been a outrageous success; and there was plenty more to come...

The Southern Swing; by Kat's Mum

This is the exact and unmodified version of an email my Ma sent to me after seeing the photos (right) but before we'd got round to the post below. It's amazing.
Please read-and-view along with the photos...it tells the story of our trip much better than I ever could.

"Kat en Rob - I love the photos!!! The waterfalls are spectacular. eeing Rob on the rock I am thinking, don't jump in
next photo - oh good he's not jumping in - where is he going
next photos - don't tell me he's going to jump into tht from there
oh no, what he's going under the waterfal - ok, what ill tyhat look like
Oh my word he has jumped in
what they're all swimming in it - isn't that a bit stricky, does not the ater go a bit fast
and
then
ok they're alright. My goodness is that mud, it is, is that rain, it is, dear me that's heavy....
So the water is obviusly expected to reach these levels, all the houses are on stilts. Good
and what a muddy waterfall now...............glad you saw it cleartish as well...


and
paddy field I presume and good picture of Rob going off again, where is he going? no-where....?
very good pictures but what are those two of buildings? Looks a bit like a prison....

groetjes..... mum"

Day 132 - 134: Waterfalling / Water falling

It was a soggy morning in the south of Laos that the newly-extended Team 365 set out on motorbikes to the Bolaven Plateau. 'The southern swing', as it is perhaps only known to tourists, is the loop that circles this beautiful landscape of waterfalls and coffee plantations.

Dressed in suitably ridiculous ponchos we headed off into the light drizzle and fortunately by the time we reached Tat Champee the sun had come out (a bit) and in true British spirit we dipped ourselves into the cold water for a dip in the pool below the gorgeous falls. Rob even went for an expedition around the back of the waterfall that ended in a few tense moments of cross-current swimming back to our side of the bank - you can follow his jaunt on the photos scrolling on the right >>

On we rode, opting to walk through the bits that were too muddy, to see Tat Yuang and Tat E-Tu - which were (we believe) all the more beautiful for seeing in the wet season when the greenery was more lush and the water falling even stronger than usual. Our deep-seated appreciation of the wet season was not to last long.

Riding on to Tat Lo, a small village that had been recommended to us by a few fellow travellers and appeared on neither the Lonely Planet map of the area or any of the photocopies we had been given, it began to rain. Then the sun set. Then we rode for a further hour in the cold, dark rain until almost all hope was lost and then we found Palamei; a haven of a guesthouse ran by a lovely man called Po who cooked us a wonderful dinner and gave us a bed for the night for next to nothing.

The following morning we enjoyed a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast in the searing sun before gathering the necessaries and revving off into the distance to the spectacular Tat Hang that boasts a huge 140m of falling water. But before we reached it; vast amounts of water falling out of the sky forced us to turn back. And at the hostel we remained all day, playing cards and taking bets on when the torrential rain would stop. At 6pm (Jeff won the bet), when the sun had set and everyone's hands were red-raw from many-a-round of Chinese Snap, the rain did stop. Rain had stopped play for the day but it was a relaxing and fun day even when the water falling wasn't exactly as we had planned.

We rose early the following morning hoping to 'beat the monsoon'; weather in Asia is not that predictable. Again it rained and after a few more slippery encounters with local falls we admitted defeat and started out on the 86km back to Pakse.

This trip, we hope, will be the perfect precursor to "The Loop"; a longer and more challenging bike ride to add to our Motorcycle Diaries collection. Hopefully we've ran our bad luck out on the rain front but only time will tell...needless to say, you'll hear all about it here - thanks for reading.

Not another Top 5 List; How to survive a night bus

1. Don't be tall
Only children, dwarfs and/or double-leg amputees should expect any level of comfort from these tiny "beds"

2. Spoon a stranger
If there is a better way to become quickly acquainted with the person next to you, we haven't found it yet. Short, narrow reclining seats with just an arm-rest separating you ensures the necessity to adopt this intimate sleeping position.

3. Lights on, lights off
Thought you'd bring a book along to pass the hours? No; your driver has turned the lights out. Bring a head torch. Thought you'd sleep since it's all dark in the bus now? No; your driver is making another commission-earning pit stop - sorry, toilet stop for everyone's comfort and enjoyment - and you will wake up for it. We're sorry; the head torch won't help you now

4. Don't expect to sleep
We've called it a 'night bus' here because surely the word 'sleeper' was only ever a wild miss-translation...brace yourself for a long night and seriously consider investing in some valium. Readers will be happy to hear rhohipnal is also widely available in Asia (and, when not dropped into your bacardi breezer unannounced, actually very effective) but please see #5

5. Don't buy sleeping pills with a Vietnamese girl called Flower
Team 365 has it on good authority that those who do may well end up with a 12-hour erection instead (please see #2 and picture the scene yourself.) Oh...so that's why the pharmacist cast a knowing glance at your pretty Vietnamese companion and said "yes, you sleep real good tonight" when you inquired about the strength of the pills (thanks to our man-in-the-field, Steve Barker, for that one)