Luang Prabang (LP) was like a vortex. We originally planned to spend just 2 days there but ended up staying for 5 nights. It was strange because even though the town is beautiful and famous for its wats (temples), we really didn't do anything. I was like our day would just happen and at the end of it, we would not have accomplished anything. This came to light our second day when we met this couple who had just arrived and asked us for tips on what to see. Well, we hadn't really seen anything yet other than walking around so we were of no use to them. It was at that point we decided we needed to book a trip to see Pak Ou Cave and Kuang Si Waterfall.

The cave was OK but not worth the 2 hour journey upriver by boat. We did stop at some interesting villages though. The first village made paper with all these beautiful designs on it. The second village was Whisky Village and there they tried to out-do the Mexicans by putting not a worm in the bottle, but a full snake in your bottle of whisky.

After we got back from the cave we were pretty tired and did not want to go to see the waterfall but, being a cheapskate and not wanting to waste the $8 we spent on the tickets, we decided to go and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We saw black bears and a tiger close enough to where we could put our hands right into their cages (if we were stupid enough). All the animals had been rescued from poachers. We then saw the waterfall which was beautiful, so we decided to swim there and it was only when we got out that we realized there was a lot more to the falls, this was just the bottom tier. We only had 2 hours at the falls and used every second of it as I climbed up one side, waded across the top of the big waterfall, and then after following what I thought was the trail I had to climb down some vines to make my way back down. We made it back just in time to catch the bus back into town. We were feeling a little brave so we ate that evening at the night market where we tried the grilled fish, which was excellent.

The next day, we planned to see a museum which ended up being closed so we decided to get a massage at the Red Cross. It was very relaxing and belive it or not Amie questioned whether it had really done any good since it was so gentle. I was waiting for Amie after my massage and I saw a sign saying that they were looking for blood donors so I enquired if they could do it on the spot and we both ended up giving blood. There I was lying on a bed with a needle sticking out of my arm and across the room were these kids watching Scooby Doo (in English). That night I made the best purchase of the trip so far, a huge bag of sweets for only 60 cents. It was such a good deal that I spread them out on the table on our balcony for a photo. On our last day in LP, Amie finally got to see her museum and we also climbed Mt. Phu Si to check out the views of LP.

Luang Prabang is the crossroads of Laos and it is here that we said goodbye to friends we had travelled with since crossing the border with them nearly one month earlier. It was there too where we made the decision to not go to Vietnam since our Vietnamese visas had already started and we felt we would be too rushed to include it in our travels. Six months sounds like a lot of time but with so much to see and do we would need another month for Vietnam.

Bonus picture monks walking in LP.

Side note: I also want to give kudos to everyone at Amie's work and her family for leaving comments regularly since we really love to hear that people are reading. If there is something you would like to read that you feel we're missing, let us know and we'll try to include it.