Luang Prabang. - Luang Prabang, Laos
Luang Prabang, Laos
We have a bit of a sleep in today, its a nice feeling not to having to be somewhere at a specific time. feels like we have been on the go the last few weeks so today will be more of a chill out. Gregg and Sunny are leaving today, getting the bus to Vang Vieng so we say our goodbyes. We are going to miss them, had been a great few days... Sunny is so good and Gregg completely relaxed about everything! We then head out looking for somewhere for breakfast, well more like brunch as it is 11:30 by time we leave the hotel. We walk past a restaurant called Mango Garden and they have a special on, an omelette with 3 fillings plus hashbowns or toast and coffee and orange juice. Its one of the best we had seen so we take a seat and both order onion, mushroom and bacon omelettes. They are so good!! Basically like a calzone the way they put the filling in, very tasty. We have a short walk around the town and pick up a jumper for Mark. You would not believe we are in South East Asia, its freezing! Hopefully it will get warmer in the next few days. We stop off in Saffron a coffee shop to warm up and plan out the rest of our day. We get in touch with Tim and Sally on Facebook and they have checked out of their hotel and after seeing 5/6 in town they decide to check into ours, its one of the best value for money in town. Unfortunately the museum is closed, only open for a few hours in the morning and then again in the afternoon so we plan to go back and go up the Phousy instead for the amazing views we had heard about. The views ares spectacular... We are going to have to come back on a clear day at sunset. We take a slow walk back down the back stairs and really surprised to find lots of shrines and other temples on the way down. There are no signs so most people just went back down they way you walk up. We even get to see Buddha's foot print :) We saunter back to the hotel as we want to get changed and have arranged to meet Tim and Sally for dinner. A local (ex-pat) recommended Rossalina for dinner which is situated on the river, apparently great local cuisine at a very good price. They were right... the food is amazing (we have a Lao curry and a Laos Laap plus veg) and its a great crack with Tim and Sal, just non stop laughs. After lots of food we all want to check put the night market, it has been closed for the last few days due to the Buddha festival. We find one of the stalls selling coconut miniature pancake deserts, Mark ate about 20 in one go when we were in Chiang Mai they are that good so we get a portion to share and a beer Laos. We have been trying to work out our route for Laos as the more we see and hear the more we wish we had longer. It is a beautiful country and very untouched. Ideally we would love to go further south to the 4,000 Islands, but after speaking to a tour agent (who went to school on Canada and speaks great English) we realise that it just wont be possible (its a 17hr bus ride to get there to then spend only 1.5days relaxing before having to get the 17hr bus back to Vientiane and then a 30hr bus to Hanoi... its just to much travel in such a short period) and will have to stick with plan A. On the plus side it gives us a reason to come back to Laos :) Today we have a big day booked we have to be waiting in town at 8am to get our boat to Buddha cave. There is a pier in town (Where the slow boats used to come into, that has steps and not a mud hill lol) and its just a short walk where we get allocated a boat and meet the other 4 people who are joining us for the day. The mornings are still cold, around 10-12 degrees so jumpers are definitely needed on the boat. It's a leisurely 1.5hrs down the Mekong as we are going against the tide to the Whiskey village. The views are stunning and it just reminds us again and again how green and lush Laos is. The village we pull up to gets its name from as I am sure you can guess, producing a large amount of rice whiskey (the guy was showing us how it is made). They have several different types of whiskey, ranging from 15% all the way up to 50%. The 50% stuff definitely has a kick and makes you feel all warm inside. We buy two small bottles that we will save for Christmas. We have a quick look around the village before getting back on the boat, only for 15mins or so before we arrive at the cave. I am a little apprehensive about the cave, but as I have seen photo's and know that it is open on one side it should be fine. It's a really is an example of Mother Nature at work. The cave has naturally grown and formed over years and the people of Laos have turned it into a holy place with hundreds of statues of Buddha. They perform a ceremony here once a year where everyone from miles around comes to wash there own statues of Buddha in the water by the cave. We explore the lower cave and had not been aware before arriving that there is actually an upper cave as well. 400+ steps later (Mark thinks it is less, but it definitely wasn't) we finally reach the upper cave. This one has only one entrance/exit and its pitch black inside, a torch is definitely needed. I ask Mark to stay close and we go inside. It is amazing, feels quite spiritual, but we only quickly wander round as I am not too comfortable being in there for a long period of time. We all get back on the boat for the slow drift back to the pier in town. We get back really quickly, maybe 45mins as we are with the tide (the Mekong is a very fast flowing river) which is great cause that gives us about an hour before the afternoon trip. We don't have much charge on the battery so we pop back to the hotel for 15mins and then walk into town to meet Tim and Sally for lunch as we are all on the same trip this afternoon. We order a rice dish and spring rolls to share and eat quickly to ensure we are on time for the minibus. This afternoon we are going to the waterfall. We have heard lots about it and hope it is as good as we have been made to believe. Breath taking!!!! I can't really explain just how stunningly beautiful this waterfall is... The water is crystal blue and really gushing fast. We have seen quite a few waterfalls on our trip so far, but I think we are both agreed that this is without doubt the best. After taking a few photos we start the mammoth task of climbing to the top. Neither of us realised quite how steep it would be, luckily I have my converse on so am less likely to fall, not sure how Mark manages it in flip flops. When you reach the top you have to wade across the water to the other side, the rocks are slippery, but we make it in one piece before starting the descent. It's actually not to bad going down, this side of the waterfall is a lot less steep and it is more like a leisurely stroll back down. Once reaching the bottom and again getting a few snaps we head to the pools where you can swim. We put on our swimming costumes and jump in... OMG its freezing! A lot cooler than either of us expected. Someone very kindly agrees to take some photo's for us and after swimming around for 10-15mins I jump out to try and get the feeling back in my toes (well whole body). There is a swing that you can jump in from and I take on the role as photographer and camera women whilst Mark has a go. We notice the time and quickly race to put on dry clothes and get back to the minibus before it leaves. On the way the driver wanted to squeeze another 2 people in and we said no because they just wouldn't have fitted so he was already in a bit of a bad mood and didn't want him to leave without us. As we are walking to the meeting point we see a bear refuge area, we only have time for a few photo's, but Sal later tells us that we rescue the bears and then rerelease them into the wild. We get back and after a quick change into warmer clothes all go to the night market to get some of the delicacies we had seen the previous evening. So on the menu tonight we have; duck head, quails, chicken feet with a side of veg. It is all actually quite tasty and is washed down with a cold beer Laos. As we are walking back through the market we are all still fairly hungry even after nibbling on the weird,but tasty treats and we agree a second dinner is needed (we could count the earlier stuff as starters :) ). The night before we walked past a Korean BBQ which looked like great fun so we walk in that direction. We get the last available table... Definitely meant to be! We order just on smiled BBQ plate which comes with a mixture of beef, chicken and pork a side bowl of veg and two eggs which all goes in the soup around the edge. It's so yummy! The meat cooks really quickly and the juices flow into the soup below. We somehow manage to almost finish and order some seafood to also cook on the top. Half way through the seafood plate we all start to slow down and become really full really quickly, Mark soldier's on and manages to clear up the rest of the food. There is a curfew in Laos and no one is allowed to be out after 12pm. It's only 10 and have a while so stop at a cocktail bar for a couple of whiskey mojitos. The time flies by and before we realise it we are almost at curfew time as everything is starting to close. We manage to grab some water before all the shops close, may be needed for the morning and walk back to the hotel. We lie in again today as our last day in Luang Prabang and its been so relaxing. We walk to the river front to get some brekkie and order pancakes and a omelette to share, plus two coffees each (its hard to get going today). We take our time and sit there for a while, catching up on the blog and using the free wifi. We want to get to the museum before we leave so head in that direction. Unfortunately they do not let you take anything into the museum (you have to lock all bags, cameras and shoes in lockers before entering). its really interesting to learn the history of Laos and to see all the artefacts. there is a really cool story as you go around which is an ancient Buddhist proverb told in most temples across Laos (we think the moral is that to get what you ally what you have to be willing to give up the things you love the most or something along those lines). We were also shocked to find out that amongst all of the different presents from other nations, America gave Laos an actual piece of the moon! It's now coming up to lunch time and we want to see some of the outskirts of Luang Prabang. We rent push bikes and cycle to the other side of the city. We stop at the golden temple and then carry on down the road and over the old bridge. Now this bridge is rickety and we were planning on going back across the bamboo bridge, but due to the weather they have been having the bamboo bridge got washed away a few days ago and the are in the process of rebuilding. The bamboo bridge is only built during the dry season when the Mekong water level is a lot lower. Therefore we have to go back across the rickety old bridge to get back to town. We are both starving by now and were hoping to find a stall with buffalo sausage, but no luck when we ride past Nana's noodle stool. The smell is amazing and we have to stop for some noodle soup, it only costs 76p for lunch and one of the best if not the best we have had. We were planning on meeting Sal and Tim for a final meal, but we have not been able to get in touch so we decide to just go to the Phousy for sunset and try and see them after. As we are riding there guess who is walking on the other side of he street... Sal and Tim lol they had they same idea as us. As we have the bikes we say we will ride round the front and then meet them up there, its a race to the top :). Wow... It was worth climbing up those 300+ steps again lol the views are great. The best setting for a sunset we have seen, we can't get over all of the different colours in he sky. We spend the next 30mins watching the sun go down taking way too many photos. It's our last night will Sal and Tim so we all decide to go to The Tamarind for dinner. It's supposed to be the best restaurant here slightly more expensive, but fine dining Laos food. It lives up to its reputation, we ordered loads! About 8/9 dishes plus desert and 2 cocktails each and it still only came to £8.50 each. Our pallets are exploding with different flavours, its all soo good that everything is polished off. Sal and Tim are great company and it is just laughs the whole time. We like that we both go off no do our own thing during the day and then meet for a great dinner in the evening. We are definitely going to miss them and hopefully will meet up again on the way.