Travelling in Laos

After a day exploring Luang Prabang - more temples and an excellent dinner at Tamarind - we spent our second day kayaking on the Nam Ou river which flows into the Mekong above Luang Prabang - a very peaceful alternative to the hustle and bustle of the town.
Stopped at the Pak Ou caves to see the Buddhas (apparently this is where they deposit all the old damaged / broken statues) and then had to paddle across the flow of the Mekong to get to the landing beach where we being collected. Tried a bit of local culture - at the Royal Ballet Theatre - with less than 30 others in a hall that probably seated 150. Very artistic and colourful but I was glad it only lasted for 90 mins and was followed by another very good meal at Coconut Garden.
We were disappointed by the range of tours on offer - despite the fact that almost every other shop front was a tour agent - they all offered the same sort of things with minor variations and it seemed expensive after Chiang Mai. We decided to have a couple more days in town and then head for Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars and onwards to Vientiane. The price from the agents seemed excessive - over $650 for two of us over three days with a tight itinerary - so we decided to organise it ourselves.
After a couple of false starts, we arranged to hire a car (minibus actually) with driver, booked our own accommodation and figured we would save at least $200 and be able to do things as we wanted.