tues day 116

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After reading up a little bit on Vang Vieng and the surrounding caves we decided to go and see a few. So after breakfast Kate and i wandered down the road to hire a couple of pushbikes, as each of the caves was only a few kilometres out from town - and the exercise would do us good! For just over £1 for the day we rode off with a map on a couple of ok looking mountain bikes. Heading firstly in the direction of the blue lagoon cave. We turned off the main road and crossed a couple of bridges before joining a very off road road - More akin to a dusty, dirt track on the south downs way! After cycling for only 7km - but on those tracks and in the relentless 35 plus degree heat it certainly felt like more - we had made it! Parting with the entrance fee we stopped for a fruit shake or two and had a bit of a wander around. Kate and I decided against walking up a couple of hundred steps to go and see the cave, so opted to take in the scenery of the lagoon instead. Being full to bursting with Chinese tourists we didn't hang around too long and started the return journey. Stopping off we brought a couple of hand woven scarfs as well as taking many photos of the beautiful scenery. Small dusty villages with children playing and locals carrying on their everyday lives amongst rice fields and huge limestone karsts. On the return was a sign pointing towards another cave so taking a sharp right we cycled out to find it. After a further 3km we made it to the ticket booth! A very dilapidated wooden hut in the middle of a huge expanse of dried rice fields was sitting a couple of men waiting to hand out tickets ( which cost £1!) Seeing as we were the only visitors to this cave he kindly excused our money. Again with a steep precarious climb up to the cave we wisely decided against it, collected our bikes and headed back to the very bumpy dirt track. Stopping to buy a couple of bottles of water ( one to pour over ourselves - the other to drink!) we eventually made it back to Vang Vieng. Not completely losing faith in the Laos roads we headed off for a little cycle around the town. I brought a new t-shirt while Kate looked for some suntan lotion. Turning round we started to cycle back to the shop, handed the bikes back and walked back to the guesthouse. Chilling out for an hour or two and after a well deserved shower we headed out for dinner in the middle of a torrential downpour - with thunder and the odd crack of lightening! Lucky we didn't have far to go to sit and enjoy the evenings entertainment.

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