Nagini

Breakfast was an egg sandwich for me and fruit with yoghurt and cornflakes for Matt. Obviously really Asian. To be honest we haven't had any Asian food for breakfast since we've been away. Noodle soup doesn't seem that appetising in the morning. I do tend to get a coffee with my breakfast though and that's always Vietnamese or Laotian. 

We wanted to see some more caves and the thought of another push bike was not pleasant so we rented a motorbike. Actually it was more a scooter but it was really cute and one bike between two people isn't too pricey. Matt drove as I was still pretty clueless and we managed to set off quite easily. It was automatic so very easy to drive. We had to stop off at a fuel station as the tank was empty and definitely got ripped off. We knew the price of the fuel but only thought about how much fuel the scooter could take after we'd paid. We're a little dim. 

But on the road we just had to head straight to get to our first cave: elephant cave. We missed the turning and drove on for an extra 5 kilometres or so but the driving was great. Matt got a little too excited when he had to beep at cows to move but he drove really well. We eventually found the cave and parked up before crossing a bridge to what seemed more like a small temple. The elephant cave had a shrine inside and was completely visible without even entering it which was disappointing. However, a little cut out of an elephant could be seen in the roof of the cave which I believe was actually naturally formed. It was rather sweet. At the entrance to the cave a guy told us to follow him to the other caves that were within walking distance of where we were. We knew he was a guide and that we'd have to pay him but thought it would only be a small amount so followed. About a kilometre along we entered a cave that had a salt line along the walls meaning that the bottom half of the cave was glittery. It was beautiful! Sparkles shone every time my light hit the walls. It wasn't too deep but we walked for around 5 minutes before we couldn't go any further. The floor was rocky and slippy and usually is covered in water but as it's the beginning of rainy season (and there hasn't been much rain compared to most years) it was only slightly moist (moist is a great word). 

The next cave had some cool formations that looked a bit like bones, like ribs, and when you hit them they would make strange noises that echoed slightly, like if something was hollow and you tapped it. Back out of the cave the guide (called Lah, Lah from Laos) told us where to head back to the village and asked for payment. We of course asked how much and he said 150,000 kip, that's over £10! I was having none of it. He'd barely said a word to us and we'd been with him for about half an hour. I understand that you should be generous with the local guides but he was taking the piss. We gave him 20,000 each but he wanted more. I started walking away but he followed so Matt gave him an extra 40,000. We gave him 80,000 overall which is far more than he deserved. Lah from Laos turned out to be a bit of a dick. Back on the bike (still fuming) we drove to a nicer road so I could try out the scooter. I got the hang of it quickly but thought it best if Matt drove as I still felt a little uneasy. 

Back towards Vang Vieng we stopped at an organic farm for a drink. We'd read that the mulberry shakes there were pretty good so we each got one. They were super good and rejuvenated us. We would have stayed longer but we had a bus to Luang Prabang at half 2 and wanted to stop off at the market for some lunch first. Lunch consisted of noodle soup! We both went for chicken and it was really tasty but the flavoursome noodle problem came up again so I added black pepper to them before I put them in my mouth. Great idea from me there. The soup had lots of garlic in it which is always a good thing for me. 

We still had half an hour before we needed to be back so we drove round the town, trying to waste as much fuel as we could as we'd barely used half a tank. We were sad to say bye to the bike (named Nagini as it was a snakelike green) but headed back to the hostel to get our bags and catch a bus. 

The bus was an incredibly bumpy ride but the views were pretty spectacular. The roads wound along the edge of mountains so I was constantly being thrown around for 5 hours. I think it was a full moon though and the sunset nearly made up for it. 

In Luang Prabang we got a tuk tuk to the centre and then had to find somewhere to stay. We stopped for a drink in a nice (very expensive) cafe near the night market before going round the corner to stay in a pleasant looking guesthouse for a night. The hostel we found online was fully booked so we booked it for the next 2 nights instead. We dropped our bags off and headed for food. By this point the market, which looked amazing, was packing up and finding somewhere to eat proved a little tricky. 

Finally we found a place and I chose fried beef with mushroom and some steamed rice. It wasn't the best but I think that was probably because I had awful stomach cramps which I decided was because of the chicken I'd had at lunch. Matt had to finish my food as I couldn't even eat it all. Not the best end to the day.