The last 3-4 days have probably been the most enjoyable so far. After 4 hours the local bus arrived in the northern village of Nong Khiaw, late, or Laos style as its better known. The scenery there was unbelievable. Perfectly balanced aesthetics of river, cliffs and mountains in dramatic shapes. I hooked up with a couple of American guys to spit the room cost and we went exploring. What we found was an extensive set of caves and tunnels reaching deep into the mountains that were used as a base during the Indochina war. My flash light just about illuminated the dusty signs that still exist deep in the mountain. On the way back we picked up a bottle of the local moonshine or Lao-Lao as they call as it. At 3000 kip (18 pence) for a large bottle is was hard to complain but it was actually quite good. Like a blend of the finest Japanese sake...and gasoline.

The following morning we took a boat up to the next village, Mong Ngoi. A rarely visited village of the beaten track with no infrastructure. It was here we found the most impressive scenery I, and they, had ever seen. We each took a bamboo shack next to the river overlooking the mountains, a $1 room with a $1million view.

Over the following days we proceeded to explore some local caves extensively. One we found included a swim of some 50m down a flooded tunnel. We also persuaded a local guy to rent us his boat, silly man. We took off up river, stopping off at the odd sandbank, but eventually the current got the better of us and we returned. A short trip in a dicey speedboat got us back to Nong Khiaw and then we took a truck back to Luang Phrabang.

Today Im confirming flights and doing a few other monotonous tasks, and then tomorrow I fly to Cambodia.