Yesterday we had a fantastic time in the country-side out here in Laos. We got up in the morning and had a lazy breakfast then we took our rented $1 clunker bikes out for a journey west of the river. Our destination was Phou Kham cave 7km over some rather bumpy dirt roads. We got an early start but it still climbed to over 100 degrees by the time we made it out.
We were rewarded when we got there by a cool blue lagoon perfect for swimming, or better yet, jumping!
I had to talk Alexis in to clamboring up to the cave above as it had gotten even hotter and the pitch was ridiculously steep, but we were again rewarded for our efforts by some impressive limestone cathedral-like columns and a serene reclining Buddha right in the middle of the passing sunlight.
By the time we got down, the daily crowd had started arriving. Quite a few people turned up on bikes, in the back of local tractors, and most annoyingly, on motor-scooters. We headed back to town for a shower, some rest, and some lunch.
The afternoon brought an old favorite back, we went tubing down the Nam Xong river (yes, that old Chico favorite, tubing). For $3 we got a tube rental (life jackets optional), and a tuk-tuk ride up to a bend in the river 4km north. We were accompanied by some younger Brits who had heard of this concept but never done it, and a couple of Swedes who thought this was completely insane (but at least they were willing to try).
The tourism industry has really taken off in some of these small towns in Laos, there were half a dozen river-side “bars” setting up to sell fruit and cold BeerLao. Now that’s something we need more of in Chico!
(Pictures have to wait as we took to waterproof film camera on this journey)
After a long shower to soak off the river grime and a healthy dinner we were ready for bed. Almost slept the whole way up to Luang Prabang this morning as well!
Rand Wacker 
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