The following day was birthday day – YAY! After a lazy morning wake up, we headed for our second breakfast of the day at a new cafe down road. It was nice to relax next to the river, and plan the next few days ahead, conscious that we had to be back in Bangkok in 10 days time. After booking a few things we headed off in a minibus to the Kuang Si waterfall, some 24km away but over an hour by road. No one travels fast in Laos – a consequence of numerous pot holes, narrow roads and chaotic interpretation of some pretty loose road rules. Our driver did place a CD of Beyonce and Celine Dion, so the hour past by with a few good sing-a-longs!
The waterfalls are a 3 tiered complex of cascades, with a large 60m waterfall at the top. It’s a nice sight tucked in the forest, and the swimming holes were a welcome relief from the heat. The climb up the side of the hill to the top was pretty hairy, but the empty pools and freezing water were awesome. It reminded us a lot of the cascades in Croatia. There was also a bear sanctuary which rescues ‘pet’ black bears in the region, but it was still a sad sight to see them captive and lurching to and fro at the fence line.

That night we headed out for a birthday dinner. We went to a German-Lao fusion restaurant which came highly recommended in the guide books. Although it broke the budget (sometimes it had to be done !) the food was great, and the after-match cocktails a awesome way to end a birthday in Laos.