day 7

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At 9am I was awaken with a knock on the bungalow door and the greeting ‘Sawadee.’ My pancake and banana breakfast was served on the balcony that over looked this idyllic resort of Thong Bay, that is set 3km away from the hustle and bustle of Luang Prabang. It enjoyed a leisurely breakfast then joined the group in the minivan for the 30mk drive to Kuang Si Falls. Walking up to the falls we passed the most amazing natural swimming pool I have ever seen in my life. Having visited 49 countries and every continent, I have stayed in some wonderful hotels and seen some breathtaking sights. The pools leading up to Kuang Si Falls, however were the most beautiful pools I have seen in the World ! With the turquoise clear water, the calming water falling into the pools, the trees perfectly placed in and around the water and just the pure serenity. I took a few photos, but it’s the type of place that no photo will ever do it justice, despite how hard i tried. We hiked to the top of the falls, which was literally took my breath away hiking up all those steps in just my flip-flops, but the view from the top was well worth it. Hiking down from the falls, we got to enjoy the pools by swimming in them. Respecting the Laos culture we had to cover shoulder and knees, so I had to wear a t-shirt and shorts. For lunch we went to a local restaurant. Although the food I ordered was tasty, I was slightly sceptic of cleanliness of the kitchen. I could describe it, but the photo of it really says it all. Let’s just say with no running water, how clean can a kitchen be ??

In the evening we headed down to the night market in town. I have been to lots of markets in lots of cities, but hands down this was the nicest night market I have experienced. It was organised, peaceful, there were few people there and not once did i hear ‘my friend, my friend, good price just for you.’ I walked up and down snapping away and no-one said anything to me, it was just bliss ! We all met up and went to the buffet stand at the end of the night market for dinner. It was cheap as chips, well even cheaper, if possible. For the vegetarian option, which was to fill up your bowl as high as you wanted with all carbs under the sun; rice, noodles, potatoes, vegetables , fried rice and fried noodles it was a mere 5,000Kip ( which equals €0.40) . I splashed out and got a BBQ chicken breast for 10,000Kip (€0.80 !!!). How nice would it to be to pay cheap prices for food were I live ??

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