Nam Thèm

After we finished caving we hopped back into our "tuk tuks" and drove a few minutes to a spot on the river where we'd kayak into town from. I started my tracking app but accidentally had it on run mode instead of bike mode so it didn't actually calculate the distance for us since we were moving too fast for someone running, it thought we were in a vehicle. Oh well though! I think it was probably about 10 km or so though. I honestly couldn't even tell you how long it took us either, I've lost track of all time and days on this trip it's fantastic. The only time I check the time is when we have a reservation for something.

The kayaking was an amazing experience. It was so peaceful and the views were breathtaking! Photos just don't do it justice. Plus I was focussed on steering since I was in the back. The few times I did take my phone out to take picture we may have accidentally gotten stuck on rocks because I wasn't paying attention. But it's all part of the experience ;) I really enjoyed going through the rapids in the rocks too! I think that I'd love to try white water rafting now. Navigating the rocks was a ton of fun. Laos, and Vang Vieng, is just so pretty. The essentially two travel days to get here was totally worth it and I'm glad we're here for a few days.

On our journey down the river we passed by the "bar area" where there are bars lining the river. Tomorrow we'll be partaking in a tubing bar crawl. We'll start at the first bar then float in tubes down to the next bar, stopping at each one along the way. Apparently you can float all the way back into town but most people take a tuk Tuk from the last bar back because they're so drunk.. I'm a bit worried about that part, the getting too drunk midday in the hot sun. Good thing I have lots of practise from the lake ;) See Mom and Dad, those skills will come in handy! Haha kidding. But anyway, it was nice to see the river and the landscape at a slow pace and actually take it all on. My kayaking buddy was also okay with taking it easy and we enjoyed being at the end of the train with a few other slow folk. What's the point in rushing through when you could just sit back and enjoy?

At the end of the kayaking we hopped into our tuk Tuk and went back to the hotel. I took a brief nap before meeting some of the others and going for dinner. We ended up at an Irish Pub and I had roast chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes. A little taste of home! We were all so exhausted afterwards that we went home and called it an early night. We're getting up early tomorrow morning to watch the sun rise from a Hot Air balloon!Read more