sat day 106

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One of the attractions in Nong Khiaw is a view point, so getting up early to avoid the heat we walked up it. Pretty steep walking in places it was tough going that took us an hour and a half to get to the top. Of course at the top it was worth it - the view although a little cloudy was pretty stunning, which we celebrated by a having a chocolate bar! After taking some pictures and remarking on our achievements we started the descent passing a few monks on the way listening to their iPods. Made it to the bottom dripping with sweat so walked back to our rooms for another change of clothes and shower before heading out for some breakfast. After a nice cup of tea and bowl of muesli with yoghurt - my new favourite thing ( no cornflakes out here!) we popped to a tour agency to start to make plans for the next few days. After a bit of a sit down we decided to walk/hitchhike our way to the caves ( the other attraction ) famous for the hiding place for the locals during the Indochina war. So setting out we ended up walking the 4km to the caves ( no one passed us that we could hitchhike on!) and climbing some steps we entered the huge caves - quite nice not to see a Buddha in this one for a change. At the foot of the caves was a small river where some locals were having picnics with their families. No luck with hitchhiking on the return either we ended up walking - the only transport passing us was motorbikes already laden with people, dogs, chickens etc! We decided to eat at the guesthouse for dinner and just chill out for the evening. As the guesthouse looks out over the Nam ou river it was nice to sit and watch the comings and goings of the locals well into the night.

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