Day 53 - Luang Prabang and the surrounding area

So we've been in Luang Prabang a good few days now. Our first duty was to do the touristy things inside the city itself, and as a newly formed foursome we set about exploring the cities temples, monasteries, hills and markets - plenty of all these things here! Crossed the Mekong river on a boat to check out more temples, a cave and a village, before returning back to the developed side of the river for some well-earned food and rest.

The view from the top of the towns central hill where there are great views and a collection of monuments and shrines. And monks.


Cute kids from the poor villages here - always wanting a chat (and looking for an opportunity to make some money), doing what they can to keep themselves occupied.


The next day our plan was to get a boat down-stream to visit the larger of the two waterfalls we'd heard good things about in our guide books and from travelers we'd talked to along the way. After some difficult haggling, and an unsuccessful search for additional bodies to bring the cost-per-head, we got out deal and set off in a pretty bendy (bendy through low-quality workmanship, not intension) boat. One hour later we reached the village where we were to catch a truck to the start of the waterfall complex.

A classic (older) village man, waiting and watching as we ascended the river bank to our ride. Great snap Lukas!


A 20 minute bumpy ride in the back of a pick-up later, and we at the entrance to the waterfall. On foot from here, we first walked through an animal sanctuary where a collection of bears and a tiger (the two species kept separately of course) who'd been rescued from cruel tourist-based treatment/captivity, and were being cared for, and restored to health. After which you walk on through to the first in a cascade of pools created by the stream. The scenery was pretty stunning, and the water a tone of blue I thought only existed in the movies - presumably created by minerals in the water, or algae from the various chunks of decaying tree that seemed to be scattered within. There were combinations of swimming areas (we didn't realise you could swim and so had no costume, plus it wasn't a particularly hot day) and naturally cascading levels of sky-blue water, surrounded by picturesque jungle.

Unnaturally blue pools of water from the falls further up ahead. I wish I'd bought my swim suit!


After a few hundred metres of pools and small cascades we approached the main attraction - the large waterfall, tumbling from a total hight of around 100m, which you could scale along a difficult path to reach the top and get a pretty good view. A few hours after our arrival we were back on our return journey. The river part took longer on the way back as we were moving upstream, and our boat ran out of petrol before we reached the town again. Our driver left on foot with a canister to fetch more for 30 minutes, giving us some time to take in the scenery whilst not moving, was pretty funny really.

The main waterfall.


Another meal later, this time joined also by a fellow Ozzy acquaintance of Mailey's from Vang Veing. We'd also spent time in the day booking ourselves onto the tour we'd talked about before - not our original vision of 4 days (became too expensive!), but a more compact, but equally exciting sounding 2 day trip that included mountain biking, elephant riding, trekking, villages and kayaking. All booked in the following morning we were up bright and early to start the adventure. Mailey wasn't joining us so we said our goodbyes at this point and she continued her journey to Hanoi in Vietnam.

It began by hoping on mountain bikes and heading out of town. Stopping by first at a temple, then a paper/parchment-making facility, we continued onto cycle along a pretty rough and hilly track, that didn't completely fulfill my visions of off-road biking, but was sure fun to burn down the steep slopes. After about 2 hours we reached the elephant village where we met our elephant. We hoped on-board a wooden bench mounted to her back, as the driver guided her around am hour long walk through the forest, kicking at her ears as commands and giving her a whack with a sharpened stick when she didn't obey. It was nice to be so close to an elephant, but as I shifted side-to-side as she took each step on the very relaxing journey I started to wonder if the continued domestication of these animals in any country is still appropriate, and if by contributing to the tourist trade use of elephants, I was in some small way making the plight of these majestic animals worse... Elephants have been domesticated in this part of the world for millennia, used as work-aids to help carry large loads (eg: logs from logging), farm, and generally get about. And the development of the countries as they obtain machinery to do such jobs for them means some elephants became an unnecessary financial burden, and were abandoned - there are tales of elephants begging for food in the streets of Bangkok. Tourism has given some of these unwanted animals a new purpose, but surely it would be better (although I'm sure very costly) to just reintroduce them into the wild where they belong, and leave them alone. Being so few in numbers today, and considering their levels of intelligence, this would make me feel better, especially as I learned the process of domestication kills 40% of young elephants they use, and consists of extreme starving and sleep deprivation methods to break their will to fight back. Sounds more like a concentration camp to me.

That's our girl on the left


After our ride we packed up for the trek which was to take us through villages, over rivers, and through some really incredible open plains of farmland, bush and forest. We walked up some pretty steep hills in what turned out to be the hottest day we'd experienced in over a month. A well earned break for lunch and a quick power-nap in a makeshift bamboo hut used for hunting were much appreciated!

One of a million amazing views experienced on the trek


The trek lasted about 3 hours in total. Once we reached the village we started to see how the majority of Laos people lived a dry dirt covered town with huts made from bamboo and weave - mostly on stilts. Children everywhere - most families have between 3-5 kids, and they are left to play in the village while the adults go out to work the land or practice their trade. We found our accommodation for the night - a home-stay shack run by a local family - and started to explore the town. It had everything you would expect; a school, animals roaming around, people preparing food and weaving straw, children playing, buildings going up, and all the time people coming to say hi, or pointing and talking at you from a distance. Taking photos is something of a sore point in this country - people generally don't like it, and it's impolite to do it without permission. A quick raise of the camera and a smile would usually provide you with a reassuring permissive nod, and as long as you show them the picture afterwards they are always keen to shoot more - they don't have mirrors so seeing themselves is a rare opportunity.

View as we entered the village


Our guide noticed a celebration in town - one hut was overcrowded with people with chatter and music coming from the open door. After enquiring he discovered there had been a wedding earlier in the day, and the celebrations were still continuing. He approached and asked if we could join in with the festivities - they were more than happy/drunk to include us. Upon entering we discovered the hut was packed with drunken Laos villagers of all ages, some playing a bamboo wind instrument, and a lady singing in tune to the music as others clapped. We sat crossed legged on the floor in what looked like the heavy drinkers corner. Pots lay about the floor with plastic (used to use bamboo) straws coming from the top, from which people were sucking back. It was Lao Jar Whiskey - fermenting sticky rice in a jar, to which you continuously add fresh water to the top, as it filtrates down you suck from the bottom. The tubes were shoved in our hands and they made us start necking this stuff as they filled from the top. It was great! Really sweet taste, with little alcohol in the flavour, but plenty of effects in the head. It's apparently 30%, and from the effects I wouldn't be surprised... We also met the town chief, who likely had many wives, who was pleased to welcome us to his village - one they are turning into a regular on the eco-tourism map. They were also passing around some snacks of sticky rice, and boiled pigs lung and liver - it's rude to refuse so we politely chewed as little as possible and swallowed the organs :S

Peter and I sucking down the jar-whiskey with the locals from the wedding party - what fun!


A few hours later, and few stories and songs sung about us, we'd left the party and sat down for dinner. Other foreigners had purchased similar packages, and had ended up at the village also. We shared our meal and evening continuing to drink with a Canadian, a French-Canadian, a German, and a guy from Holland - all really friendly. Off to our huts for a sleep under the mosquito net, then up for breakfast the next morning. Day two consisted of a easier trek along a maintained path down through a few small villages, across some streams, and down to the river where we were to start kayaking. The river was pretty easy, and only contained a few small rapids. We got stuck on a rock once, but after that it was clear sailing all the way to the point where we disembarked, and got drove back to our hotel. All in all it was a pretty cool experience, of which the highlight was definitely the village and experiencing the wedding party. The two days was only attended by Peter and myself. Lukas felt he wanted some serious photo time, and fancied exploring just villages on his own, rather than doing the activities. So he hired a guy with a bike, and spent his time traveling from village to village experiencing similar things to us, but in a more photo-opportunity creating context. He really did take some amazing pics, and he was much happier for it. So we met back up with him in town for what would be our last night in Luang Prabang. The following morning - this morning - we're booked on a flight to the south of the country, to a place called Pakse. Sat in the airport now killing some time as our flight is delayed a few hours. Our flight will take us on this updated-visual journey progress path.

Jon's-eye view kayaking along the river


Once there we hope to rent motorbikes again, and do a couple of day circuit around a network of roads - exploring the towns and villages in the south of the country before continuing on down into Cambodia.

Until next time.