There were numerous places all along the way that one could stop at for drinks, etc (starting at about 100 yards from the beginning point), but the two places where we went spent our time had these huge jungle swings and zip lines into the river and volleyball courts. They were such a blast and it was quite entertaining watching those who had already had a few too many Beer Lao, make some not so graceful landings in the water... well, you actually didn't have to be drunk to do that. David did about one and a half back flips off the zip line when it came to an abrupt halt at the end of the line and he just kept going...wish I had caught that one on video. The trick about the whole tubing thing is to make sure you leave the bar soon enough that you get back to town before the sun goes behind the mountains. The first day we were a bit late and we were freezing by the time we got down. About half way we got ambushed by a bunch of really cute Lao kids, who we naively thought just wanted to go for a tube ride. Turned out they wanted money when we got back to Vang Vieng for paddling for us...but we didn't have any.
The next day we biked out to PhouKam Cave which was also a very worth while expedition. The cave was beautiful and enormous...I personally have never been in anything like it before. We got some cool pictures, but as usual it just doesn't capture it. There was also a nice place there to swim called "The Blue Lagoon". It was quite blue and it was refreshing as the day was so hot again.

We woke up on New Year's Eve morning to Paul and Jisca outside our hotel room saying that we needed to leave Vang Vieng ASAP. They were kept up all night with sounds of mortar and gun fire (they even saw the glow from the explosions). Dave and I heard nothing as we were staying in the centre of the town and they were on the edge. We were just about to buy our tickets when we were told by a local that it was a once a month military practice exercise...Phew!!! So instead, we went tubing again.

Now we're back in Vientienne, the capital of Laos and ready to head out tomorrow on our way to Cambodia via Thailand. It should take us a couple days to get to the Cambodian border. We got into Vientienne yesterday after a fairly eventful bus ride...our driver was really crazy; basically running people off the road all over the place...but he made the mistake of bumping into a Harley (while they were both driving). The guy chased down the bus yelling at the driver and at one point pulled out a hammer and hurled it at the bus. Thankfully it didn't hit a window so there was no broken glass, just a dent in the side....so crazy! Anyways, we'll take a day here just to rest and prepare for the marathon ahead.

Although Laos was not an original part of our itinerary, there are definitely no regrets about making the venture. It's such a beautiful, unique little country that I think we would like to come back to someday as we left so many places unexplored. The things I will miss about Laos: it's seemingly untouched beauty, the great coffee (there is no coffee in Thailand...only instant stuff)...and in Laos they make it with sweetened condensed milk...mmmm, and the awesome baguettes...thanks to the French colonization in the late 18th century.

And now, off to Cambodia.....