Up at 10, I went to a net cafe for a bit before I headed off to see the sights. It wasn't long before I bumped into Stepan and then Dave and Koen. We also bumped into Mr Joy, a 'Good River Boat Captain' who tried to sell us a trip to the Pak Ou caves. We also wanted to see the big waterfall and he said he could arrange that for us as well. We told him we'd call him later when we'd spoken to the others and carried on our sight seeing. We eventually climbed 'That Phousi' (guess how thats pronounced!) a hill in the centre of town with the usual religious buildings on it. It was a hell of a lot of stairs (Adam would make a fortune fitting lifts!).

In the evening we all headed out for a meal, and we agreed to go to the waterfall and the caves the following day so Koen call Mr. Joy, we had a few more beers and called it a night.

The following morning we all scrambled into a Tuk-Tuk and headed to the 'Kwang Xi' waterfall, it was 30 minutes away in Laos Time which meant it took around 45 minutes. Going there first would likely mean we probably would have the place to ourselves, and for a long time we did. The waterfall was very impressive, and being able to swim there was a joy. There was also a caged Tiger there for no apparent reason(?).

After getting back to the river we got on Mr. Joy's boat and headed out to the Pak Ou cave, again Laos Time was in evidence as the 45 minute ride to an hour and a half. We went to the Pak Ou village first for lunch (and because everyone needed the toilet!)

The two caves were small, but were full of Buddhas of every size and material, and in terrible states of disrepair. The top cave needed a torch to see in it, which of course you could rent for a price.

Afterward we were taken to the Whiskey Village, another village on the river. Here we sampled Rice Wine, a stronger rice spirit, and a very strong rice whiskey. I'll be sending my rice whiskey home at some point.

In the evening whilst walking through the market a few of us decided to buy a 'Beer Lao' T-shirt. Dave asked how much and she tapped the price into a calculator '25000'. How much for five, and she tapped '125000'. Dave took the calculator and tapped in '80000', and she took it back and tapped '90000'. This we agreed on and so we each had a beer Lao T-shirt (not to be worn inside Lao).

We all went out for food and beer and a merry time was had by all. We ended the night with a beer on the balcony of our guesthouse.

Next day, after breakfast we all headed our separate ways around the city. I went for a wander with my camera for a few hours and, for me, took quite a few pictures.

Koen, Stepan, Dave and I met up together to go see the Luang Prabang Museum, which wasn't anything special, before heading off to buy a minibus ticket to Vang Vieng. Koen already had one, and Dave and I got one. Stepan wanted to go to the Plain of Jars but ended up with a ticket to Vang Vieng also, as it was apparently easier to get to from there.

It was 3pm and we fancied a swim. So Susanne, Dave, Stepan and I got a tuk-tuk to the closer waterfall. It also entailed a small trip in a small fishing boat to get there. There weren't too many people there and the water was great!

In the evening Stepan and Dave had to take their Beer Lao T-Shirts back to the market stall were they bought them and swap them for XL (Mine is XL, but a little on the snug side!). After getting another woman to translate and explaining we bought 5 in one go they were able to change them. We went for a meal and then headed over to the Hive bar again where Dave gave us his bizarre Thai massage story (I won't write it up, children my be listening!).

It was an early start in the morning for our minivan ride, so off to bed early.