A little bit of fear never killed anyone...

Day 9, we went exploring this wonderfully epic and yet sleepy town on Nong Khio. We went on a small self guided hike along the river and found a small beach to lounge and eat some lunch. After we met up with our new friends stu and lu to walk over to the caves that the Laotians used to hide out in during the bombings of the Vietnam war. Apparently, Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world, or some such outrageous figure. Thirty years later and this country is still quiet and friendly and soooo laid back that I keep returning to the thought of how American troops could have landed here and thought that bombing this place and killing these people made any sort of sense?
I geeked out in the caves for awhile and followed these ten year old boys down pitch black windy passages that kept going down and down and down. ignoring my fear of darkness, bats, and just the general uknown, i genuinely enjoyed it!

The next day (10), we went on another unguided hike, much much further this time all the way out to a village. Because we were told that if you just pass through these villages they may think you are a ghost we decided to stay for awhile. Our friend Golan had given us balloons for an occasion just like this and they were quite a hit. We blew up about 15 of them and handed them out to the children and played catch with them for about half an hour. After which we journeyed back down to the water and tried to walk back a new way...not the best idea. Well, I guess an okay idea if you were out for an adventure.
We figured if we just walked north we would hit the trail and then be able to follow it back east. Only, things dont always work out that way when you are lost in the laotian forest. After scaling 18 foot walls and sliding back down them on our bums, forging across streams, and bushwhacking through heaps of brambles we decided it best to just head back to the village and retrace our steps. Which would have been fine if the sun weren't on its way to bed. It was a mad dash I'll tell you. Thanks to adrenaline and again my friend fear, we made an hour and a half trek into a twenty minute sprint. Caitlin was covered in mud by the end and truly looked like a refugee. (Jason you would've been proud)

Day 11 was spent on a slow boat from Nong Khio to Luang Prabang. The scenery was beautiful but the company was a little less than par. I learned a phrase from my new Scottish friend Stu, "They were right up on my teets." I learned the meaning of this phrase while on this boat trip. Alas, you can't get along with everyone...The night market here is phenomenal and it is increasingly dificult to not by heaps of stuff...Otherwise, I've had a little bit of a cold and been laying relatively low.

Today (Day 12 ) we went to the Scandinavian bakery that our Israeli mate Chani recommended. The goods were delicious and all but I was mostly impressed by the bbc on tv and the flushing toilet, ahhh creature comforts...We met up with Rachel and Austin from Ireland and took a tuk tuk to the Kuang Si Waterfalls. They taught me all about Ireland and the origination and present state of the conlflict there and we hiked up to the top of the waterfalls which were beautiful and then got to watch as they fed this amazing tiger. We were so mesmerized by the tiger that we hung on after everyone else had left, which apparently was a good choice because the tiger's caretaker helped us to pet her!! I pet a freakin tiger! Again, I was terrified but I did it and it was awesome.
We then got to feed some really cute bears that looked oddly enough like mickey mouse that the whole thing became real surreal. And then Caitlin got stung by a wasp and I fixed it with reiki, my second official miracle. yeah for miracles. miracles and tigers!
thats all for now, trying to meet some elephants. really really want to meet some elephants.