Valentine’s day! No girlfriend though I finally got my act together, had a stop pill, and headed out to the travel agency. Lecia (a Belgian girl full of fun) met me there and we joined about 8 others for the mini adventure of kayaking down the river. First stop was Tham Nam, a 500m long cave with a small stream flowing through it. We were equipped with headlamps nd tubes and directed to a ripe which disappeared up the river into the cave entrance, a wide gap in the rock rising barely a foot above the surface of the stream. Another group had joined us by this time, o we formed a line of about 20 tubes and 15 lights - there weren’t enough to go around - and headed into the darkness. After about 30 ... read more

My trip to Vientiane was uneventful. I was picked up at the travel agent in Kao San Road and walked to the bus stop picking up other travelers on the way. The first was Joy, a New Zealander with a fresh tattoo on her ankle - “Joy” in Thai - followed by a couple of Irish lads and others. The bus left after an hour wait and we had a pretty uneventful journey to Vientiane. We also failed to sleep much and spent most of the next day in bed recovering having arrived at 10am. The following day, Joy and I spent the day as tourist trying to enjoy the Lonely Planet recommended walking tour around Vientiane. It was shit but we enjoyed each others’ company making fun of the tourist “attractions”. The first stop was ... read more