Day 11 - A Bonus Scooter Day

We struggled to get up this morning and we were in danger of being late returning the scooter. I came up with a brainwave - why didn’t we keep the scooter for one more day.

We packed our rucksack for our day out, then rode to the scooter shop, paid the man 180,000 Kip and told him we would return the scooter that night before 8pm.

The restaurant that was the scene of our pork gluttony the previous evening was next door and we knew they made shakes. Jackie ordered a banana shake and I, an iced coffee with milk, for just £1 each, a fraction of what we were paying at the posh bakery up the road. The drinks were heaven sent and I, in a moment of delirium, promised to walk down early the following morning to pick up a couple of takeouts before we moved on to our next destination.

Now we still had the scooter, it gave us to the opportunity to visit Kaeng Yui Waterfall, which was 6km east of Vang Vieng. It is described in my guidebook as ‘a peaceful spot, nestled in the forest among the hills protecting Vang Vieng's eastern flank.
Besides offering a refreshingly cool picnic spot, with small pools of water directly under the falls to lounge in, it rewards the journey with the sense of being smack in the middle of the tropics, miles from anywhere. Along the path to the falls keep an eye out for reptiles, giant stick insects and butterflies’.

We paid our 30,000 Kip admittance fee, parked up and strolled up the gratefully gently inclined pathway through the forest. It was a very pleasant 600 metre walk to the waterfall. I was scouring the undergrowth and trees with my beady eye, but apart from dozens of different species of fluttering butterflies, I unfortunately didn’t see a single reptile or stick insect, unless you could describe Jackie as a giant stick insect.

The waterfall itself was not much more than a dribble, which was not particularly surprising considering it has been the dry season for the last couple of months. We took the usual photos, Jackie even got her feet wet, then we walked back down to the scooter. It was a very pleasant experience and so glad that we took the time out to go and visit Kaeng Yui Waterfall.

We rode back to Vang Vieng where we encountered a school just finishing for lunch or for the day. I so wish I had had the opportunity to video it (and not get arrested), because it was hilariously chaotic. About a hundred young schoolchildren raced out of the school gates, all at the same time, most on mini scooters, some on cycles, bringing the surrounding traffic to a complete standstill.

Eventually we arrived at Tham Chang, not for the cave, but so we could have a leisurely sunbathing afternoon around the lagoon and Jackie could fulfil her promise of zip lining here.

We set out our sarongs on a grassy bank overlooking the lagoon with a great view of the jump platform and zip line, then refreshed ourselves with a cold beer. We watched a couple of very young kids who worked at the lagoon go down the zip line time and time again whilst hanging upside down like a couple of little Mowglis.

Eventually a European couple gave it a go, the lad was fine, but his girlfriend managed to fall off almost instantly and belly flopped from a great height into the lagoon below. This didn’t bode well for Jackie, but she had the gall to analyse what the girlfriend had done wrong.

Jackie thought it was too quiet to go on the zip line, so instead we sidled into the lagoon for a little swim. Once we got out, I decided to take the bull by the horns and show Jackie how it was done.

I got my phone for Jackie to video it from behind, then I pulled in the zip line handle. It was quite a long narrow wooden runway, which I ambled along then stepped off to soar through the air. I pretty much reached the end when I let go and dropped into the water with the applause of a French lady ringing in my ears. As I resurfaced, she cried out “Bravo, bravo”.

I returned to Jackie who decided that she was going to have a go on the zip line in the afternoon. We decided to indulge in some local produce for lunch from the stalls on site. We planned to have a couple of banana rotis, but Jackie by now had the taste for something more savoury.

We enquired about the contents of a banana leaf package, which we assumed was sticky rice. The lady didn’t speak English, so she opened a package and showed us the contents. It didn’t look appetising, but we agreed to buy it as she had taken the trouble to open it for us. We inexplicably also ordered a couple of sticks of burnt pork bites, which we definitely didn’t need.

Jackie took a bite out of the contents of the banana leaf, declared it vile, then immediately consigned it to the bin. The pork bites were fatty and overcooked. This was not a success. I ordered a banana pancake, which was delicious.

The afternoon was spent lazing in the sun, with one more dip in the lagoon. Jackie kept threatening to get on the zip line, but after one excuse too many, Jackie finally conceded she had lost her bottle. Am I surprised………..No.

We left Tham Chang around 4pm and returned to our hotel. Over the next 2 hours, we packed our rucksacks and got ready to head out for the evening.

At 6.45pm we rode back to the scooter shop, via an ATM, to drop off the scooter and collect my passport. We then walked to Il Tavolo, a pizzeria that we had seen attracted queuing crowds.

There was no queue when we arrived and we were allocated a small table for four. We ordered 2 beers and a pizza with mozzarella, garlic and spicy salami. It was supposed to be a non spicy meal, because we were travelling in the morning, but Jackie ordered additional toppings of onions and fresh chillies for our shared pizza. The pizza was lovely and tongue tingling, so we ordered a carafe of white wine to help numb the pain.

It was a delicious meal, but it was slightly disconcerting to have so many people queuing outside waiting for a free table whilst we were still eating and savouring our house wine. At one point, I thought we should have ordered a pizza each, but by the end of the meal, we were both struggling to eat the one we had ordered.

We walked back to our hotel, had a couple of nightcaps, then retired for a particularly early night.

Song of the Day - Waterfalls by Death Cab For Cutie,Leggi altro