We are up early today, just gone six, as we want to go to see the rare Irrawaddy dolphins. The best time to spot them is sunrise or sunset and it’s a 6km bike ride to the boat jetty from here. We hire our bikes and set off out of town. OK, we have just missed actual sunrise but it’s still early and there are very few people about. There are a few locals but no sign of any tourists. The metalled road very soon becomes a dusty, bumpy track. There are two routes we can take...the slightly shorter tuk tuk track and a narrower, bike track cum footpath which follows the side of the Mekong. We find ourselves pedalling beside rice paddy fields and a temple, with a tuk tuk overtaking so yes, you’ve guessed ... read more

This morning we are off on a tour of the Boleven Plateau so we are up early for breakfast and an 8am pickup. The minibus is a pleasant surprise...decent seats and seat belts...which work! We are not the first pick up so our seats are near the back. We decide to move one seat forward sitting separately. We are fed up of bouncy back seats! This turns out to be a smart move as the lady sitting beside me disembarks after 30 minutes, leaving a double seat for us. It appears that she was just being delivered to the bus terminal. Now we are just 11 in a 14 seater bus and we are on our way. We have reached our first stop - Tad Fan. This dual waterfall comes tumbling out of the forest, dropping ... read more

Today we decide to completely relax. For a start off, the bed in our hotel room is complete bliss. Lovely soft mattress, fluffy pillows, crisp white sheets. Seriously I don’t think we have had such a comfortable night since the day we dismantled our own bed! It’s very hard to leave. :-) We go through the hotel cafe for a good breakfast. Chocolate cereal flakes with cold milk, followed by scrambled egg on toast with sliced ham. Then there is fresh fruit - dragon fruit and water melon with a pot of home made yoghurt. The toast is the horrible sweet pre-sliced variety but other than that, everything is excellent. We decamp to our room to play cards, drink coffee and generally chill out until checkout time. It’s noon so we need to vacate our room. ... read more

We have slightly overslept this morning as we need to pack, check out, have breakfast and walk to the opposite end of town to attend another Big Brother Mouse volunteering session. We arrive at BBM about 15 minutes late and the session is in full swing but there are young people waiting to join in so it’s not a problem. We grab a couple of chairs and within no time I have a group of four whilst Ian has a much larger group clustered around him. Trying to describe my job has thus far been difficult but today I came prepared! I have two of my travel books which were destined as a gift for friends in New Zealand, but now we feel compelled to leave them behind in the BBM library! Ian’s group is of ... read more

After yesterday’s journey we are both exhausted. We just about make it to breakfast before they finish serving at 10am. We go for a wander, first to the Mekong which is literally down the road from our guesthouse and then past the temple and in to town. We don’t want to do anything formal today as we just want to rest up. It’s lunchtime and feeling quite hot. We grab a baguette and fruit smoothie at the morning market, buy our sleeping bus tickets for our return journey to Vientiane and go for a siesta. This evening we visit the night market. It’s become quite commercialised but nice for a wander and to get dinner at one of the stalls. I have a very tasty chicken pad Thai whilst Ian chooses pork with ginger and rice. ... read more