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Published: April 1st 2011
Wednesday 2nd February 2011 After a second very long (& cold) day on the boat down the Mekong, we arrived in Luang Prabang.
We walked around town briefly, ignoring anyone quoting room prices in $’s as you immediately know it’s too expensive, and found a nice place, Souk Ka Phol Guest House, on the main street, ideal location and bargain price of 80,000KIP (£6.40) for two double beds & an ensuite.
Thursday 3rd February 2011 After a lazy morning we wandered around town checking out the various Wats - nothing too extravagant as Joanne was not feeling very well.
There was loud banging on the front door at 23:30, which Joanne got up to answer as everyone else seemed to be ignoring it. It turned out the owners had padlocked the front door, with a couple still out for the evening; we were a little perplexed by this - not to mention the fire risk!
Friday 4th February 2011 Today we visited the old Palace, which is now a museum as the country is no longer a kingdom. They had a nice collection and explained a lot about the French rule
over the country which led to many colonial buildings dotted about.
Saturday 5th February 2011 After a lazy morning spent in a coffee house, we climbed Phou Si Hill, which had a place of worship at the top along with caves containing Buddha’s footprint!
Coming down the other side we discovered the town was bigger than we’d realised with another large street dotted with shops! Seeing a poster for Utopia, a bar that had been recommended, we followed the signs across make shift bridges and down back alleys until we finally reached the entrance. The interior had a cool design, with bomb carcases as plant pots and a volleyball court! We chose the bed style seats overlooking the river to relax in with a drink & sampled their snacks.
Sunday 6th February 2011 After much deliberation (due to our previous experience) we had booked onto an Elephant Mahout course where we were told we would learn how to ride the elephants bare back, and direct them ourselves. We turned up and went for a ride around the complex – much like our last experience in a wooden seat upon the elephants back.
After our initial ride we were whisked off to Pak Ou Caves which was quite impressive from a distance, cut into the side of a huge cliff by the side of the river, but up close was just another place to worship-come tourist attraction.
Back at the reserve, we were treated to lunch. Then the real fun started. Everyone else (who had just paid for a ride) departed, and we were left on our own to take the elephants for a bath. We rode on their necks down the river, where they walked in with us still on their backs and we scrubbed their heads and backs with the water that they continued to shower us with – apparently it was our bath time too! Bathing the Elephants was a real joy, especially as they seemed to enjoy it too – It must be really nice for an elephant to emerge itself in water and not have to support its own weight for a while.
An hour passed before we headed back up to the top. We’d had a great time, but wished it had lasted a little longer as once at the top we were left
to wait for another 90 minutes for our lift back to town. Joanne made the most of the extra time by treating the Elephants to several bunches of bananas.
We were going to venture out in the evening but instead amused ourselves by watching 10 episodes of Entourage!
Monday 7th February 2011 We headed to the Waterfalls today and shared a tuk tuk with Ellie & Tim an Aussie couple from Melbourne to split the cost.
Before we reached the waterfalls there was a bear sanctuary (Black Asian Bears). The keepers had just hid the bears food so we got to see them hunting around the large enclosure and playing with various objects trying to get the food out.
Once we moved on we encountered beautiful blue pools at the foot of the falls. We hiked the steep climb to the top of the main falls, although the view was not that great; it was far better from below.
Back down we swam in the first 2 pools. The first had a rope swing which Richard had a couple of goes on. Joanne declined as there were lots of local tourists not
just watching, but taking photos of those jumping, and she didn’t trust her bikini top to stay in place!
We went for a meal with Kez, Hanna, Georgie & a whole host of others who had joined the party. Half went for drinks, half for food (which was the slowest meal ever with about an hour between the first & last people being served), then said our goodbyes as it was getting late and we didn’t want to get locked out.
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Mark
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LP
I liked it, very laid back, wasnt so keen on the hike up to Phou Si in the middle of town. Guess you're enjoying Beer Lao. Kuang Si falls were very pretty, Jo, healing from broken shoulder was my excuse, bikini top is a bit cowardly!!