After getting very little sleep last night we exited the bus and grabbed a coffee before being picked up by another bus on the way to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The journey lasted no less than 30 hours and we’ve just now arrived in Siem Reap. After trying some recommended hotels that were fully-booked we finally found a hotel for the next few nights. We also secured a tuk-tuk driver to take us around to Angkor Wat and other sites tomorrow and the next day. We’ve just finished our first real meal since breakfast at the guesthouse back in Laos and it was damn good!

We left Luang Prabang Tuesday evening and were about to catch a flight to Vientiane when the power went out at the airport. Now, call me petty, but I think but I like to have my airports all wired 24/7. While I was entertaining all the possible catastrophes of this little episode, all of the airport staff, vendors and tuk tuk drivers were leaving for the day. It was, after all, past 8pm already! After a small delay, we finally took off to Vientiane where we spent a short night in a deserted strange looking hotel. Very early the next morning, we caught a flight to Pakse, the main getaway to the south of Laos. This time there was no power failure at the airport but rather a HUGE airplane size roach walking around the “security check” area.
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One of the recommended activities in Luang Prabang is a visit to the Pak Ou caves. The two caves are located 25km north of Luang Prabang in the lower part of a limestone cliff. Inside those mystical caves are hundreds of little Buddha statues hiding in the walls of the cave or seated on a rock. The caves are accessible by boat or by tuk tuk and we of course chose the boat option. After a nice breakfast by the Mekong, 1 Dramamine pill (me) and quick negotiation with the boatman we were on our way! We chartered a boat to go up the Mekong River all the way to the Pak Ou caves and split the cost with another traveler instead of going on a group tour. The ride north was gorgeous taking us along villages, animals and other boats.

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