Advertisement
Published: July 22nd 2009
Edit Blog Post
Posh Room
One might almost say Hip! We arrived in the bus station and squeezed into a jumbo tuk tuk with several others. It is amazing how many youngsters (late teens and early twenties) we meet who are absolutely astounded that we are doing this trip with children - they really seem to think that life stops with children! I guess that in our desperation to discourage teenage pregnancies this is the message we convey. Our fellow passengers were another example of this. The driver dropped us at the edge of the town despite our request to go to the Apsara. When we asked he gestured vaguely up a road, dumped our bags and drove off.
We walked as snails and tortoises, our belongings on our fronts and backs through a densely packed market along the main street. The stalls were full of brightly woven silks and cottons, but we trudged on towards our hotel, Apsara. When we eventually found it we were thrilled. Listed in Hip Hotels global directory (who ever thought we would stay somewhere like that?) it is easily the most stylish place we have stayed. Bright silks, polished concrete floors, large bathroom and huge white linen dressed beds frankly demonstrate style and sophistication
that is wasted on most of us! Still we wanted somewhere special here and are excited not only by the room, but by the reinforcements who we are meeting here.
Luang Prabang is a (yes, yet another, yawn, blah blah!) UNESCO World Heritage Site. The close embrace of the humid heat, combines with tropical vegetation and an almost too perfect melding of French colonialism with Oriental charm to create an atmosphere that is similar to that in Galle Fort and yet utterly unique. Almost as many saffron and orange clad monks wander the streets as locals, and every street corner is picture postcard perfect. Thank goodness for digital photography I dread to think how many films we would use up here! We have wandered the streets calling in at artisans workshops and galleries displaying art and clothing in various forms, put together out of wood, paper and textiles. The silk is particularly beguiling. The food is as good, mouth watering soups and curries, delicious breads, pastries and cakes and fruit shakes of a variety and freshness that simply do not exist at home. Breakfast has been an explosion of colour, and has included Dragon Fruit, Ramboutans, Melons, Watermelons and
mango, followed by eggs how ever we want them, cooked to perfection, toasted baguette and the best coffee we have had since we don’t know when (while Jake delights in the breakfast tea!).
We had hoped to go in the hotel’s liveried jumbo tuk-tuk, so Elliot was devastated when a smart ac minibus turned up for the airport trip. Any sense of disappointment evaporated as soon as the grandparents were spotted. Little time was wasted marching them up and down the main street, giving them their first tropical downpour, and Beerlao before returning to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.
The following morning we had an excellent breakfast, and then were collected by a driver who took us to the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls. The drive up was fascinating, with us enjoying Mum and Dad pointing out woven houses, 3 people on motorbikes, bikes with umbrellas, paddy and giant bamboo. Extraordinary sights to which we have become habituated. We arrived and parked, paid entry, and walked via a sun bear rescue sanctuary (looking after bears that have been rescued from poachers) to the waterfall swimming pool. Jake was desperate to stop here, but like the cruel parents
we are we forced him and his grandparents, who despite training by walking to a local pub in Stourbridge, were not quite accustomed to the heat and steepness of the rainforest climb, to press on to the summit. Elliot sprang ahead like a mountain goat, rushing back, exclaiming excitedly before charging off again. The climb took us through jungle to a wooden staircase up a waterfall which is undoubtedly the best staircase we have ever seen. The summit was spectacular, and unlike anything I have ever imagined. A wide flat high plateau of rainforest/jungle through with shallow water flows - over a hundred metres wide. We walked on rocks, roots and submerged tree trunks to the edge, where a fence unnecessarily marked “Danger” provided a handrail over which to peer. The cascade was several hundred metres down in various stages over spectacular limestone and was a muddy turquoise in colour. Trees grew right to and along the edge, so the waterfall literally sprang from the forest. We walked back, calf deep in the water, and descended, by now hot, and all as desperate as Jake for the swim.
We have had some spectacular swims this trip and this was
right up there with any of them There is no way in Britain you would have been allowed to swim somewhere like this, but the refreshing icy cool, and spectacular scenery were just reward for our climbing in the heat. The boys soon spotted a rope swing, and charged off to swing Tarzan like from a tree and then plunge into the pool, to be picked up by the current and swept down to their Dad acting as catcher. We were amazed at how unfazed they were - though perhaps we should not have been. Later Jake followed me up one of the waterfalls, and after a moment preparing himself leapt off. A nineteen year old backpacker turned to me and said “Wow your kid’s brave”, and when she said to him how she would have liked to do it, but was too scared he bounced from the water, beaming to be met by adoring and impressed grandparents.
In the afternoon 3 of the adults opted for massages from unfeasibly strong fingered Lao girls, returning to AJY Snr pummelled but relaxed. We dined in style that evening in our hotel, a $12 set menu that would have been closer
to £50 at home. We retired hoping for a good night’s sleep having ordered an early breakfast before setting off on an elephant trek.
We struggled awake, especially Jake, who was insistent that he could not wake, or eat this early. Only 3 of us managed eggs, Nicky and the boys settling for toast and jam. Then a driver arrived to take us to the elephant camp. We wandered down to the river bank, when we arrived and were startled when suddenly a troop of elephants appeared around a corner. Granny got backed into a corner by one, and was just starting to say she was frightened when it bent at the knee and the next moment she was sat upon it and being borne into the river. Elliot soon followed, as did all but Jake and Grandad. They were astonishingly surefooted, yet all of us felt we could fall at any point. They descended deep into the river, and soon we were scrubbing their heads, and being splashed by their trunks.
This extraordinary experience got more weird still, as the pachyderms climbed from the river, and we were carried back up to the camp. Granny Mary had
her Titanic moment, though she rose rather than sinking arms spread and triumphant. We looked down on water buffalo, which had seemed huge, and now looked tiny. Riding an elephant bareback is an uncomfortable and yet awesome and unforgettable experience. You feel every roll of their mighty shoulders, and are jiggled about on their vertebrae. Granny Mary was like the queen of Sheba now, even signalling her elephants turns, though I am not convinced she checked her mirrors first. Elliot was smitten, and wanted to bring his elephant home. We had a toilet and drinks stop while chairs were mounted on the elephants, and then trekked for an hour and a half through jungle and down streams back to the camp.
We were dropped on the main street, and having had sandwiches on the walk back, still got to our rooms before noon. Resting, wandering, drinks and a Bridge lesson were the order of the rest of the day. Tomorrow, the final day in Luang Prabang we arise early to see the Monks Tak Bat before heading off to Hanoi. Vietnam beckons.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.202s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 72; dbt: 0.094s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
chaz stoll
non-member comment
Joe goes arty!
Hiya Joe, Thanks for the up dates! The arty photo is great - is there no end to your talents. Forget Joe yeates, rename yourself Joe Man Ray. Great to see the grandparents with you. Fantastic waterfalls - I know you are enjoying the lot, Joe. Brillaint.