Again we meet up with more fellow travellers. This time it's Eva and Paul from Melbourne (another father/daughter pairing), Shannon and Andy from Alberta, and Ama from London.
We start chatting to Ama as she's sitting beside us, and discover she's a member of England's netball team! "So what's it like marking Irene?", I ask. "Scary", says Ama, "Irene always smiles, even when she's making mistakes. Really unnerving."
On arrival we set off in search of our respective hotels, and arrange to meet up for dinner later. Fi and I find a perfectly adequate twin room with a shared bathroom for $10/night in the heart of town, and are well pleased. We'd been warned accommodation can sometimes be hard to get in LP - another advantage of taking the fast bus.
Shannon and Andy teach us a dice game over dinner. Six dice and fairly easy rules and scoring (which I think Fi's remembered!), so we'll have to buy some now.
We discuss our tour options for the following day, and agree to join forces for an all day combined elephant and kayak tour. Fi does well to get the cheapest price at $28 each.
First step is to give the elephants a bath.
Then it's onto the carriage for a half hour ride. I'm a little dubious as our elephant approaches a steep clay bank - surely it can't go up and down there? But it does with no trouble at all - despite their bulk they're surprisingly nimble and sure-footed.
They say Laos is the land of a million elephants. A bit of an overstatement now, but we figure the other 999,999 must be out there somewhere.
Fi tips our elephants with a few bananas after the ride,
and then engages in an earnest discussion with some monks. Fortunately these ones don't offer her a massage.
In to the kayaks for a three hour paddle down stream. This time Fi and I are in a double, and we enjoy the ride with a few mild rapids thrown in for interest. A couple approach Grade 2 status for a bit more excitement, but we stay in ok.
Then Fi decides to go for a swim. No probs until she gets back in to the kayak, we get a bit unstable, and over we go. Fault is still being assigned! But I enjoy my involuntary dunking, and as soon as we're back to still water recover our composure and paddle on, hoping the drybag lives up to its name.
Fortunately it does, and my camera and all our clothes are ok.
The obligatory group photo (Eva, Ama, Andy, Shannon, Fi & me - Paul didn't come) rounds off a great day, but after three hours some of the girls are feeling the strain.
Today (Sat 15th) gets off to a bad start. I'd found a hard-out mountain biking tour called the Chicken Run for half a day, and keyed everything up verbally. But when I get to the agency the guide hasn't been booked and the tour is off. Grumbling, I carry on up the road and pop in to another agency on the off chance they'll have an ad-hoc tour I can do immediately. And surprise surprise the first one I try does!
Within half an hour I'm on a Giant mountain bike with marginal components (but at least it goes) heading up beside the river I'd kayaked down the day before. I surprise my guide by actually cycling up the hills without stopping. He's taken a look at my grey hair and figured this would be a stroll, and worn jeans and jandals!
We stop at the top of a hill and join a Dutch couple who've just walked their bikes for a breather. They're feeling the strain, there being no hills to speak of in Holland. They say you only need a three-speed in Holland - one for a head wind, and one for a tail wind, and one for a cross wind. Robert - perhaps you'd better do some practise along Beach Rd before you get to Vietnam!
I try and explain to my guide what single track is, but something gets lost in the translation and we stay on gravel roads.
Our last blast back in to town takes us past a Hmong New Year festival. We're lucky - as opposed to the Vietnamese Hmong, this is the only day of the year the Lao Hmong dress up in their traditional costume.
Strange - they line up and throw balls to each other. "Just a game", says my guide.
This one stole my heart.
Back to town after lunch, a couple of big Beer Laos, and a satisfying 30km circuit. A full body workout with the kayaking yesterday and the mountain biking today. Don't seem to be losing weight though - not enough tummy bugs and too much Beer Lao.
I catch up with Fiona, who I'd left to do some shopping. She got chatting with some locals while getting her hair done, and ended up being invited to a baby birthday, and subsequently a wedding! Unfortunately one of her hosts was a bit overexuberant in filling up Fi's glass after she'd declined, and poured beer all over her lap. Unimpressed, Fi made a quick exit and we had time to do a bit of shopping in the market this afternoon.
So I am now the proud owner of a pair of elephant slippers, a "Same Same, But Different" T shirt (anyone who's been to Asia will understand), an embroidered apron, some table mats and central table strip, and a bracelet I hope matches Pauline's taste.
After some discussion with anyone we can find, we book our tickets up the Mekong to the Thai border by speed boat. Lonely Planet warns against this option as every week or so one ends up on the bottom of the river, but why take the slow boat over two days when a speed boat only takes six hours? Apparently all we need are earplugs, crash helmets, warm clothes, a wind breaker, and a sense of adventure.
The length of time it takes me to publish my next post will give you an indication as to how we got on. Fingers crossed.
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