Double Sculls

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

We got up this morning, had an organic mulberry shake and muesli for breakfast, then headed off for a day of kayaking. It was an extremely slow start, as we waited around the restaurant where we booked it for nearly 45 minutes before we took off. We were dropped off about 25 minutes upstream. We walked through a Hmong minority village on the way to the river. The kids are only 14kms from Vang Vieng, but they have to stop school after the 4th grade since they don't have transportation to the secondary school in town. It is very sad, and seems like such a simple thing to fix.

We put our kayak in the river and were off. Nige and I had a double kayak, and found out quickly that we make a pretty good rowing team. We spent most of the morning paddling ahead and then waiting for everyone else to catch up. We went through some small rapids but most of the river is very calm. We still enjoyed it, and of course we were treated to another full day of the gorgeous mountain scenery. We stopped at a small beach to visit some caves (there are tons of caves around Vang Vieng, as all of the mountains are limestone). After walking to the entrance, we had to wait for some flashlights as no one (including the guides) had them. While waiting, Nige and I decided we'd seen enough caves and didn't think it would be too fun in our flip flops, so we went back to the river to swim, relax and paddle around in the kayak while we waited. We had a delicious lunch of grilled kebabs and fried rice, then set out again. We paddled for about 2 hours, and near the end we caught up with where we had started tubing the day before. The next stop was another cave, but Nigel and I stayed at our favourite place along the river with the giant swing while waiting for the group to go through the cave. Nige perfected his star jump off of the swing and Kel worked on NOT doing a 360 degree spin after jumping off. We had a couple of beers and then set off paddling back to town.

We went back to our hotel for a hot shower and to wash our bathers and clothes. We were surprised at how filthy they were from the river water. But now if we get sick in a few days, we'll know what it is from. We had dinner at an open restaurant while watching episodes of 'Friends' on one of their 3 TVs. This seems to be a popular way to attact customers in Vang Vieng, as there are at least 5 restaurants that show 'Friends' during opening hours. Because our arms were tired from kayaking, we had an hour long foot and leg massage before heading to bed.