Pak Ou Caves and further up north

So the next day we did "go see cape". A slowboat took us upstream on the Mekong to the mouth of the Ou river. It is on this spot where the caves are located. Two caves in the lower part of a limestone cliff facing the river are stuffed with Buddha images of all styles and sizes.

Maybe it was because we were a little hungover but Pak Ou didn't do it for us. The two hour boat ride was nice though.

Next day we got up at five in the morning because somehow we thought that the bus went that early. We arrived at the busstop at 5:30. The place was deserted. We got a row over who's idea it was to get up at this crazy hour. The sunrise and the waking up of the town was an unexpected bonus.

It seemed like the busstop was also a market. We passed the time by eating and walking around. At 8 we finally departed. The truck was full with locals and some other backpackers. We stopped at Udomxai and decided not to go any further. We were totally gone to pieces after six hours driving on very bad roads.

It was a smart move to get some rest. The following day was again very exhausting. A small bus took us to Muang Sing, our next destination. The bus was packed with Chinese workers going home. It was so crowded that we had to sit on boxes filled with beer bottles.

After taking two turns the boxes tore open and the bottles got stuck up your arse. You can imagine that when the bus got a flat tyre it was a very welcome break. The spare tyre was also broken but the driver took the innertube and put it in the outertube. That worked. Just stand on it with two guys and inflate it with a regular bicycle pump and you are ready to go again.