Luang Prabang (19 - 25 October 2007)
Seven hours on a bus used to sound like such a long time for me, but I am getting so used to it that it really doesn’t bother me anymore. The bus journey to Luang Prabang was stunning; winding through the ongoing mountains and beautiful and lush landscape.
We stayed at Seng Phet - a good reference that we got from the website of another South African couple who travelled through Laos last year - thanks Ter and Georgi! They also ‘introduced’ us to JoMa bakery - the best bakery in the whole of Asia! We had a ham and cheese croissant and coffee here just about every morning!
I immediately fell in love with Luang Prabang - it is a small little town, tucked away in mountains in the bend of the river. The town itself does not offer much as far as siteseeing goes, but we ended up spending a full six days here. There is basically a main street that runs parallel to the river and then there is a magnitude of stunning little side streets. These side streets have the most amazing plants and flowers hanging over the fences and some of the streets turn into night markets from 17:00 to 22:00. Needless to say - I did some good shopping here!
We did a short Lonely Planet walking tour through Luang Prabang - went to a couple of temples, watched the monks building rowing boats for the upcoming Bun Nam (annual rowing boat festival), visited the Royal Palace Museum and watched the beautiful the sunset from Phu Si hill.
SOUTH AFRICA TAKES THE WORLD CUP!!! JIPPIE!!!!!! Have you ever tried watching a rugby world cup final against England in a pub full of English supporters in the middle of Laos? It was the strangest thing! The bar upped all their prices to pay off the government to keep the bar open after the 10:30 official mandatory closing time. With the time difference the game only started 2AM local time! An Indian guy, Eon and I were the only South Africans and every time we cheered, it was as if we were in a massive hall and you here your own voice echoing back at you and then that is followed by 50 odd ‘boos!’. I must admit, it was such a fantastic feeling when the final whistle blew and we could literally laugh in their faces!!!
Outside of town there are a couple of waterfalls. We visited Tat Kuang Si - a pretty impressive waterfall with a great hike to the top. At the bottom of the fall, you find the most amazing crystal clear pools where you can take a dip and cool down after the hike. I knew that there was no way that I would be able to get into the ice cold water by just walking into the pool, so I opted for a swing rope from a tree and then plunging into the water. What a thrill!!
On the way back from the fall, we visited a bear sanctuary and also a tiger that was saved from a near death and is now held in the sanctuary.
We had dinner, local style, at the night food market. They have a variation of food to choose from: BBQ honey basted chicken, BBQ fish on a stick, sticky rice, and green papaya salad - all delicious!! This chicken was the best braai-chicken I have ever had! They also served the more risky dishes like dried fish, pig’s head, wild boar sausages, lots of intestines, and many more - all smelling very foul!
On the last day in Luang Prabang, we rented bicycles and cycled about 15km to the Tat Sae waterfall. On our way to the waterfall, we were stopped by two Laos men who had set up a ‘road block’ with a rope. They had some fake used tickets that they used as ‘admission tickets’. Eon just laughed and told them that we need not pay ‘toll fees’ as we are cycling and do not use cars. We just drove right over the rope. They did not try to stop us. Asia - you just cannot get rid of the scams!
The Tat Sae waterfall was not as impressively high as Tat Kuang Si, but definitely stunning! Eon and Rob had a little adventure of their own here - they went for a bit of a hike and ended up hiking back down the river, braking through branches, dodging man-eating spiders and what ever else! Boys will be boys - they could have just taken the same road back like I did.
Luang Prabang is so far my favourite town on this trip! But, sadly, we had to move on and also bid our friends Alan and Rob farewell. So we caught a bus to Phonsavan in the North East of Laos.
Click on image below to view the Luang Prabang gallery: