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Published: September 27th 2008
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An amazing bus ride in. Absolutely stunning views as we climbed through the hills on our way to the city. The city is not really much of a city, just a cluster of guesthouses and bars set out to get your money.
We arrived and got in a tuk tuk that made our way to a guesthouse that we heard was cheap. it was full so we it the streets and bargained for a room. It turned out to be a bit more expensive so now we paid 40,000 kip for a double room per night. That is 20,000 a person. Which is about $2 and some change for a hot shower, clean bed, fan, and toilet. Not a bad deal. In the same note...we found Oreo milkshakes for 5,000 kip...8,000 is a dollar. so we had a few of them. Oh and a veggie buffet for 5,000 kip. All you can pile on your plate...less than a buck. that works.
The first day was really nothing special. just got sorted, then checked out the night market where vendors line the street selling many different goods for cheap. We had a few drinks then made our way home to get some
Geronimo!!!
Me and Gio take the leap rest.
We woke up charged and ready to take on our day of hiking and waterfalls. We hit the streets looking for a driver and a good price. it was about an hour ride out of town to get to the big waterfall. We piled in one tuk tuk and started to head out. We had to argue with the driver about the details...how long he will wait for us at the waterfall...when to leave...how much it will be... we got our way on all but the departure time. We wanted to leave now and he wanted to wait until noon so he could round up more people. he finally gave in and started down the road. We thought we were on our way until he flipped a u-turn and tried to talk two others into going. We sat in the tuk tuk for about 2 minutes before we decided that if he wants to play games we can play back. We jumped out...crossed the street...quoted a price to another driver and were now really on our way. Sorry bud you just lost 8 people by trying to be greedy and pack in two more. You learn the to take
advantage of supply and demand really fast here. You can get what you want walk away and ask somebody else. Anyway, we were off.
The waterfall site had a bear sanctuary as well. I guess if you didn't live where bears are pretty common this would have been cool. I wasn't very impressed. The hike through the jungle to the waterfall was amazing. it was beautifully green with canopy of trees and all that comes with them. Spiders the size of your hand...snakes that we never saw, but did see many skins that were shed...and finally leaches. OK fine, one leach but yeah you guessed it...it found me! First jelly fish now this?! it was actually really tiny and painless. I just had to tug on it a bit to get it of my leg. As i did that it stuck to my hand. A few good flicks and it was gone. But it was enough to make you feel like things are crawling all over you for the rest of the day. We found the big waterfall and it was really cool. It was like a multi tear cascade of water... pictures don't do it justice. Waterfalls are strange
that way...unless you are there to hear and see how much water is actually moving they don't seem that cool. We made our way up to the top by hiking the muddy hill and then walked on a few logs to go out to the edge of the top expecting a great view down the edge of the waterfall. Nope, it was a good exercise to get up there but that was about all the benefit we got out of it. It was not a good view and you couldn't get close enough to really look over the edge. We made it back down and sat for some lunch at bench that faced the falls. Not a bad way to enjoy some 10,000 kip baguettes packed with fresh veggies and grilled chicken.
after our lunch we made our way to a swimming hole and a small waterfall. This was where the fun would begin. Obviously if there was anything we could jump of we would find it because that's just what we do. A large tree branch hung over the pool of water under the falls. We made several jumps and it was pretty fun. But it was time to
up the ante. We climbed out to the center of the waterfall and jumped of the edge in to the rushing water below. now that was fun! Again pictures don't do it justice but it was a blast. The waterfall was a good size and the water is moving pretty fast. The pool below was deep enough to jump in without getting hurt but i didn't dare to dive. But just for good measure and to keep the tradition alive i decided that a few flips would be necessary. The first one didn't go so well. I over rotated and landed face first, smacking my jaw together and biting my tongue. Ouch. I bit the side so hard that is had been painful to eat for the last few days. Spitting blood, I was pretty humiliated with that performance and was determined to make it again. I got up top and flung myself off to get my courage and dignity back. It was a success...feet first...good form...well done. Even Krista the gymnastic instructor and enthusiast said it was much better than the last. Speaking of her...she is a nut. You would think that the boys are the ones that do
all the crazy stuff and push the limit....nope. She is usually the first to flip of anything...back flips, front flips, you name it, she does it. She make the other girls that whimper as they climb up look like chumps as she launches off anything rotating with perfect form. Hell she even makes most guys look like cowards.
After the day of waterfalls and trekking we made our way home to lend a hand at a local children's creative center called Big Brother Mouse. We were able to spend a few hours with some kids that are lucky enough to have this place as a facility to learn and create art. Everything there is donated. We played games and i sat foe a few hours drawing pictures as the kids lined up and pulled cartoons out of books for me to copy. It was a great time. After a shower and some cheap dinner we went for a big night of bowling. Yup bowling. After all the bars close at 11pm the only place to go is to the 10 lane bowling alley. It ends up pretty packed and they serve cold beer and popcorn so it is the thing
to do. On the way back our tuk tuk broke down so after a small fight with the driver we paid half the fair and walked the rest of the way. We turned in pretty late and it had been a long day. The last day was only a half day before the dreaded 24 hour bus ride to Thailand. See you there!
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