Kingpin
Trip Start
May 03, 2008
1
4
47
Trip End
May 02, 2009
Luang Prabang,
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, May 12, 2008
We left Vientiane early on the 10th to catch a supposed eight hour bus to Luang Prabang. When we woke that morning it was bucketing down with rain, made me feel like I was still at home. We were lucky as we only had a short tuk tuk ride to the station so we stayed dry. Buses here all leave on time but rarely get to their destination on time so it's best to give a few hours of leeway. Indeed that was needed on this trip after the bus broke down halfway.
Wat Xieng THong Luang Prabang
It and we had been putting up with twists and turns through the Laos mountains that make the ring of Kerry look like an American Highway until the driver stopped the bus and all we could hear was hissing. Of course everyone piled off the bus to have a look not really knowing why we'd stopped but knowing it wasn't exactly good news. The hissing and steam was coming out of the back of the bus near the engine and the drivers and helpers set about trying to fix it. From where they were fixing it an Aussie I was talking surmised that it was either the hydraulics or the brakes. Not sure what it was but thankfully it wasn't the brakes we had been constantly snaking up and down mountains and I was sure we were due to do the same for a few more hours yet.The "mechanics" eventually fixed the bus after another three other buses full of passengers stopped and the drivers and helpers of each jumped out and had a look. We arrived in Luang Prabang around 6 pm which is near sunset which wasn't ideal as lonely planet maps aren't up to much when trying to figure your way around in the dark. I should point out that despite being a UNESCO heritage town (a sort of culturally protected area) and a main town in the north of the country, streetlights were few and far between. After we checked in to a nice guest house we picked up at the station, which was situated about 5 minutes from the main street. Took us longer than that to find the main street though but after finally ignoring Lonely Planet we found it
Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls
. Half the street was blocked off for a night market which sold all sorts of wares from hand knitted to cushion covers to t-shirts. The next day we set off to visit the many Wats (temples) as Luang Prabang is full of them. Three of which on a hill with 500 steps to the top but it had a great view once we got up there. And of course there were golden Buddhas along the path to guide us. After that we wandered around and had lunch beside the Mekong river before we visited another temple in the afternoon, Wat Xieng Thong. It was a number of buildings ornately decorated with figures and more gold. One of which was the Royal Family funeral chapel which housed a 15 metre high funeral chariot.
That night we had dinner, tried Lao Lao (sweet, strong Lao Whiskey) and then watched Man Utd win the league over a few Beer Lao. Places in Luang Prabang and Laos in general seem to have a curfew of 11pm but we found out that if you to continue there is a bowling alley on the outskirts of town. After haggling with a tuk tuk driver to get about a euro off the price we headed out there and stayed till about 2am.
Got up the next morning feeling "slightly tired" but headed towards the town centre. The previous night, we haggled with the tuk tuk driver to take us to some local waterfalls and we had arranged a cheap price of about 2 euro each as they were about 50 km away. Unfortunately we were running slightly late as usual but we met another tuk tuk driver and with some Icelandic girls in tow, we arranged the same price.
The Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls were actually beautiful. Situated by the side if the jungle, about four waterfalls each of which you can walk up to, at least two of which you can jump off and swim as well. Sadly we had forgotten our swim gear in our haste but I waded in shorts and a look around. The waterfalls were a vibrant aquamarine colour which broke over numerous rocks. It was tough going getting up there however especially in my delicate state and some of it was a climb rather than a walk and we also had to cross the waterfalls three times and trek through the jungle. Coming down was fun to....
Tomorrow we're off on another winding 8 hour bus ride to Phonsavan in Eastern Laos where the Plain of Jars are.
