As the title suggests it is easy to find this restaurant. It has a view of the Nam Song River, which is over the road between a three storey place and a building under construction. It also has some nice tables and plants at the front.
Earlier in the day we got much closer to the same river during a canoeing trip. In the company of our guide, Mr Get, we paddled 8km down river through some stunning scenery. Edwin and Rupert accompanied Mr Get in his boat while Lexi, Trixie and I were in another. While we didn't actually race Trixie was mad keen to go "Full steam ahead, Daddy" and more than took her turn paddling, desperate to go in front of the boys. We broke our journey after about 5km for coffee at a river side place, high up on some cliffs. It was a lovely way to spend a morning.
With soaking wet bums we headed back to our hotel, past The River Sunset Restaurant, with its distinctive red table cloths, and after a dry off went in search of our next mode of transport of the day, bicycles. The best place to hire bikes appeared to be close to The River Sunset Restaurant, which had a distinctive white sign out the front. Each bike only cost 15000 kip, about £1.30, to hire, and after picking up some locks as well we set off in search of caves. To find Krokham caves we first had to go across the river on wooden toll bridge and then negotiate a very stoney road/track. This would have been straightforward had all of us been riding our own bikes but with Rupert sitting on the back of mine and Trixie on the back of Lexi's the going was slow. However we did eventually find the turn off to the the cave. This second track was more rocks than track and we soon parked the bikes up in favour of feet. At the entrance to the caves a lean Lao guy was doing something with a pile of breeze blocks as well as hiring out head torches and taking entrance fees. We paid the necessaries and for a bit extra he offered to be our guide. Thank goodness he did really as there was no indication as to where to go beyond his initial 'over there' type gesture. He led us on a brief but satisfying clambering, crawling and climbing session that impressed all of us.
By the time we had peddled back to the river for the crossing to Vang Vieng our various bottoms were bruised and buffeted and so we were ready for a feed. But where to go? If only there was a restaurant that had a semi view of the river and had raised tables next to beige walls. Luckily there was. And it's name, dear reader?
So we took our seats at The River Sunset Restaurant and ordered food. The children being very adventurous went for chicken burgers while Lexi and I had Lao delicacies. Naturally the food took ages and, surprisingly, the children's food arrived first. Faced with a brand new bottle of ketchup Edwin, of course, did the small boy thing of taking the lid off and holding the bottle upside down. Being a wise mother Lexi took the bottle away from him to prevent his food being flooded with the red stuff. Me being the wise Dad fixed the lid on to the bottle tightly, checked the seal and gave it a good shake. Then we had a nice meal and there is little more to say.
PS You might like to know that The River Sunset Restaurant is even more distinctive than previously. The nice tables and plants at the front now appear to have designer red marks on them, as do the red table cloths, the back of the white sign, and a couple of the tables. If you look closely you might notice a slight red staining on the beige walls where some hasty wiping has taken place. Finally if you see a thirty something female tourist with what appears to be a ketchup stain on her dark shorts then you should sympathise with her. Thai ketchup bottle lids, even after checking that they are screwed on tightly, are liable to fly off when shaken, creating an impressive arc of fast-flying ketchup. Least said about the hairy English bloke who ended up with ketchup all over his knees, much to the delight of his three children and wife, the better.