To visit the caves I stayed in Sam Neua, perhaps an hour away from Vieng Xai. It was an 8 hour bus trip over amazingly winding roads to get there (with breakdowns) but the views were very good. On this bus I met a Czech couple who got on an hour in as they had cycled that leg the day before on their folding bikes. They were amazing spendthrifts and hagglers and made me feel ostentatious for spending 50p on a meal or 2.50 on a hotel. The next day they set off for Sam Vieng Xai on their bikes and I hiked to the bus station (or rather, the small town has two bus stations at opposite ends, one of them on a mountain, the other out beyond the airport. These recently replaced the one central bus station, and must have been built with bribes from the town's Tuk-tuk drivers. After heading towards the eastern one I asked directions and was told I actually needed to to the mountain one. After climbing up to it I was told no, actually it was the other one after all, so I walked for an hour to get there!) where I waited for a Sangthiaw (like a pick-up truck with benches along the sides in the back). Here I met a Dutch girl and the 4 of us did the tour together in Vieng Xai.
Here is our guide demonstrating the Russian made oxygen pumps that were installed in case of a gas attack.
Here we are in one of the caves (there wasn't much inside most of them).
And here's Sam Neua at sunset, I stayed in the hotel front-right by the river. This really was getting off the tourist trail and there were few other westerners in the town. We had a few beer Laos in the evening, but I didn't have too many, as it was up at 0630 for a 15 hour bus ride to Luang Prabang!
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