And these so called vacations will soon be my death.

Pretty sure these lyrics were written about Vang Vieng. The return journey was made for two purposes only. To spend more time with the great people we met in Luang Prabang, and so Paul could go off a rope swing. Both goals were achieved.

The tubing was great. It involved absolutely no tubing. Actually, it doesn`t actually require entering the water. You can walk from one death trap of a bar to the next. Or, as Phillippe from Brazil put it, `It`s not tubing, it`s barring.``

We got out alive after dropping from trapeze swings 20m above water of questionable depth, dropping off a rickety diving board (I use that term loosely) in pairs and attempting to navigate oddly angled step ladders after one to many beer laos. It`s amazing what can develop when there is absolutely no risk of liability.

We, exhausted and ready for something more Laos like, headed out after two days for the Bolaven Plateau. This incredible area is home to the famous rich Laos coffee. It`s so dark and thick it looks like it was mixed with tar. It`s also home to some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. We were lucky enough to get one of the last rooms in one of the only hotels in the entire plateau. The Tad Fane Resort overlooks the twin falls of the same name that plunge some 120m into a cylincrical cavern. We hiked for hours and were rewarded with views from the top of these two falls. We both felt a bit terrified though. Standing in water that is about to careen off the edge of the biggest cliff you`ve ever looked over = vertigo.

The next day we borrowed a bike from the generous swiss couple staying at the resort and the four of us headed out to the Champee Falls for a swim. The water, in all our waterfall swims is frigidly cold, but the exhilaration of swimming at the base of a breathtaking waterfall is worth it. I even found a rotted wooden log to jump off. We were also able to swim to the side of the thundering falls and get up on slippery rocks to walk behind the falls. Very cool.

We are now sitting in the Kingfisher Ecolodge (a real ecolodge. they`ve undergone numerous per guest per night impact assessments.) It was easy enough to get here. We had to catch a ride outside the Tad Fane resort by walking to the main road and hoping someone would stop (someone did, almost immediately). Then get to the bus terminal and hope the tuk tuk leaving for the 4000 islands was late (it was, we are in Laos after all). The get dropped off at the turn off to KietGong village (at 12km walk from the drop off) and walk along a red dirt counrty road trying to convince the locals to start up their trucks and take us to the lodge. A family stopped and for 40.000kip let us ride in the back of their truck with 8 barrrels full of water (or something). Yeah, easy.

That`s it for now. We have wifi here, so maybe a bit more blogging consistency.
Linds and Paul