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Published: April 16th 2009
Sunset
on top of the hill in Luang PrubangI have pretty much officially moved to Luang Prubang. Tonight will be my 10th night here and ever single one has been fabulous! To be honest, I can't really recall every single detail of my stay here (is it too much Lao Lao whiskey or my old age???), but I will try to capture some of the highlights for you... (and I just typed up the whole thing...and then it got lost...ahhh!!!)
The beginning of my stay here, my friend Jen who I had been traveling with and I took one day to journey out to the big waterfall which is about 30k outside of town. We found a tuk-tuk driver to take us there, but he made us wait for awhile. He promised he had other people to go and as soon as they were ready we would leave. It then turned into him having to find others and before we would go. We then had another driver come and try to take us...I felt like he was stealing business from the other driver and I didn't want to do that to our driver, but it turns out they are friends and made an agreement that he would get
broken down
trying to get the Tuk Tuk going the next group of people. So off we go....6 of us in the tuk tuk and our first stop was a gas station. He fills up and then asks Jen and I to jump out and push the tuk tuk. This should have been a sign. We push the tuk tuk, jump in and make it to the waterfall. The waterfall was huge and the water was a very pretty blue. We wanted to swim and thought we could if we climbed to the top. We went up the R side of the falls, up these crazy muddy rocks for ages and got to the top and all we could do was look over the top of the fall. There was no swimming hole and not really a great view. Bummer. We carefully climbed back down and then encountered tons of awesome swimming areas. It was not the nicest day out and the water was freezing, but it was so beautiful that I had no choice but to go swimming. It was a really nice day and then we found our driver to go back to town.
We piled into the tuk tuk and drove just about 1/2 way
Laos game
this team was practicing for an upcoming tournament...amazing! when the tuk tuk made a terrible noise as we were traveling over a bridge. Our driver then nervously peered out the window and we knew something was wrong. We all got out and he decided to have us all push the tuk tuk ("Little Miss Sunshine" style). This was not an easy task, especially considering we were going up hill! I kept thinking I was definitely going to get left behind and miles down the road someone would finally ask "Where's Olive?"! We eventually got back on the road (3 tuk tuks, many village people, few laughing children and a jump start later). We made it back to town, although it was unsure for awhile!
One night, we went to one of the nice bars in town and our servers invited us to go to the bowling alley. Luang Prubang has a 12am curfew which means most bars and restaurants close by 11:30pm. The bowling alley stays open until 3 or 4 in the morning (for some reason). We told them we would go but then remembered that our guesthouse has a midnight curfew and locks up. We went back and asked our guesthouse mama if we could
2 for 1 Sangria!!
Sangria in Laos?? Risky but good! maybe get a key or stay out by some other means, but she began ranting that if we go we will drink too much and lose our passports and all our money and no we could not go. She did back down and say we could go but if we did, we couldn't return home until after 7am. We decided it wasn't worth and and went back to the restaurant and broke the news to the servers. Oh well! I guess the Laos people will never get to experience my stellar throwing the ball with 2 hands like Balkey Bartakamas on 'Perfect Strangers' skills.
One night we also went up to the temple on top of the large hill in town to watch sunset. It was pretty nice, but the sky is always a bit smoky from all the slash and burn that occurs outside of town. It does make for a pretty bright red sun though (kind of like when we have fires in LA).
When Jen left, I moved to Spicy Laos hostel (Same, Same but Spicier!)...it is owned by the same person who runs the Spicy Thai hostel in Chiang Mai where I stayed for
oops
he started it...I swear!! the Thai New Year's last year (I am such a SE Asia junkie!). I was excited to get there as it has the same feel as the other one...its a place you can roll out of your bed (carefully...I'm on a top bunk) and have breakfast in your pjs. Its great! I got here and thought that I would leave town for a few days to do some trekking or something, but then decided to just stay here for awhile. I ended up finding a place that I could go and volunteer to help people learn English. It was a lot of fun...each morning I would go for a few hours and just talk to some local guys. They typically ranged in age from about 17-23 and were either HS or university students, or wanted to learn English to work in restaurants or as tour guides. It was a lot of fun and a great way to meet local people and learn about the culture. It also made me feel useful which is always nice!
Each day (pre New Years), I get up, spend a few hours volunteering and then just hangout around town. I've met some great people
Fighting!
Matt and I at battle! here and now my friend Matt has also joined me in Luang Prubang which has been nice. Prior to the actual start of the festivities, people were already out on the streets starting water battles. It was great the one day I went running...it was like having my very own aid stations to keep me cool in the hot sun! Too bad they didn't also give out gatorade!
Another day, I headed out to the waterfall with a bunch of people from the hostel. This time, I was told that there are pools at the top that you can swim in...you just have to climb up the L side of the falls and cut across the falls to make it there. We climbed our way up and it was amazing! Tons of little pools, many falls, a few areas to jump off of (although the biggest one which wasn't even that high was a little shallow and I my feet hit bottom!) and an incredible view over the side of the pool. It was awesome! I felt like it was in "The Beach"...I kept getting slightly disapointed each time more and more people had arrived! But I definitely wouldn't
Laos prison?
getting in trouble for having our bucket in the street want to deprive anyone of that amazing place! Eventually we headed back down and swam in some of the other pools. There was a rope swing which was fun, but nothing compared to the crazy ones I had done in Vang Vieng!
Yesterday was the big party on the river for the holiday. We had to take a boat out there and once we got there it was a big muddy mess! I confirmed for the 2nd time in Laos that my camera is mud proof...Olympus should definitely market it was that! Pretty much I was covered in mud from the second I arrived and that was great when people kept pouring powder on you...I felt like Ross in friends when he accidently made himself a pair of paste pants! We sang, danced, drank, ate and built a mound of mud...I think it is for good luck but I can't remember.
Today was the big town parade and we went as reps for the village. We dressed in our Spicy Laos gear and ventured out into the madness. We wore yellow pants (not a good look for me) and white t-shirts...totally inappropriate since it pretty much turned into
so cute
cutest little girl in Laos!! Don't you like our homemade pool? a wet t-shirt contest. So not good in Laos where you shouldn't even bare your shoulders! It was another day of soaking everyone and today had the added insaneness of tar, paint and powder! Very pretty. We were behind a group of martial artists and in front of a group of ladyboys..it was hilarious (think a Laos version of WeHo Halloween!)
It was another fun day...another fun country...another crazy holiday and more good friends! Onto the next tomorrow...Thailand! I fly to Bangkok and please don't worry...I have talked to many people who are there now or have been there in the past few days and apparently things seem to be settling down...if the situation doesn't seem great, then I will head off to the islands!
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Jackie
non-member comment
Happy New Year!
It sounds and looks like you are having a blast! Glad to see it!! :) XOXO