Southeast Asia

I woke at 9:30 this morning feeling about a thousand times better, the others were still asleep so I crept out and went to the coffee shop to get breakfast. I knew that given time they would each show up in search of coffee and food. We decided over breakfast that Brendan Joel and I would catch a tuk tuk out to the nearby waterfall and if there was time we’d also try and see the Pak Ou caves. We set off about midday, Dee stayed back in town because she wasn’t particularly interested in coming.

The ride out to the waterfall took over an hour on a very dodgy dirt road. The pot holes were close to the same size as the tuk tuk and occasionally our driver would slam on the brakes to avoid running into the wandering buffalo and we would go flying into the metal bars that separate the driver’s compartment from the back section. Thanks to this I now have a massive blue bruise on my upper arm.

At the waterfall we first walked up through the forest, passing the enclosures for 3 Black Bears which have been raised as cubs by the association since their mother was killed by poachers. Further up the hill we came across numerous stalls selling every souvenir ever produced in Asia.

The waterfall was spectacular; I could only imagine what it would have looked like in the wet season. I hadn’t thought to bring my bikini, which was stupid because the pools between each tier of the waterfall looked very inviting. We trekked up the steep rocky path to the first pool where we had to clamber over slippery rocks and pass under the flowing water just to reach the flat ground. From here we climbed even higher to the top pool which was a very demanding hike. the dirt had turned to mud which made the already steep hill impossible to grip and we had to use the vines to keep ourselves steady. Luckily, the view from the top was amazing so it was worth the climb. There were shallow rock pools with mini rock faces that the water flowed over, the vegetation was particularly dense. We waded through the water along the top of the waterfall and then began the climb back down on the opposite side of the waterfall, only to discover that on this side there had been wooden steps built which would have made the climb a lot easier had we known they existed.

By the time we got back to the tuk tuk and woke our driver who was asleep in his hammock in the back it was after 4:00.

I still really wanted to see the Pak Ou caves since they are the main tourist attraction in Luang Prabang because of their housing of hundreds of Buddha statues. Our driver decided we had just enough time to see the caves as well so we took off, although in retrospect I think he knew there wasn’t enough time but wouldn’t have found another fare that afternoon. When we were still on our way an hour later and the sun was beginning to set I grew slightly concerned. Along the road we passed dozens of school kids on their bikes cycling home from school to the villages, they all wanted to wave at us and a lot of the young boys tried to race the tuk tuk.

We finally got to our destination at 5:30 and we ran down the hill to the boat crossing and jumped into one of the wooden boats. We arrived at the caves with 10 mins of sunlight to spare and paid the 10,000kip entry fee before racing up the stairs into the cave. I can not pretend I wasn’t disappointed, the caves were less than impressive and the Buddha statues were covered with dust and less than interesting, perhaps if there had been some information on why they were there it would have been more interesting but there wasn’t anything like that.

We took a few photos and then dashed up the approximately 300 stairs to the second cave. A little Laos man came running up behind us and when he reached the top he was doubled over wheezing and trying to catch his breath. I don’t know about the boys, but I for one was glad to see that even the people who walk those stairs everyday find them a challenge. Once he had finally caught his breath he began unlocking the cave doors [they have had to chain the cave closed at night since people have been stealing the Buddha statues] with the keys he had brought, only to discover that he had come running up behind us with the wrong keys. He gave us an apologetic look that also implied he wasn’t about to go running back down to get the correct keys and rush back up again to let in 3 Farang who were stupid enough to show up just as the sun was setting. We told him it was ok, and we all stumbled defeated back down the stairs to the boat.

After crossing the river back to the tuk tuk we climbed back in for what promised to be a bloody freezing ride back into town. It actually wasn’t as bad as I expected, it was cold, but I survived. The driver dropped us off at the markets so that we could grab some food because none of us had eaten since breakfast. I finished eating before the boys and went off in search of tampons. it took me over an hour to find some and even then they cost US$3 for a box of 8. Since I was already out walking around I decided to go and have a look at the night markets now that I was feeling better. They were selling a lot of hand sewn sheet sets with the symbols of the local tribes on them. I bought a set for my sofa bed with the symbol of the Hmong people, I thought it would be a great souvenir of my New Years in the Hmong village. The set cost $19; I’ll have to post it home tomorrow.

Back at the guesthouse we sat outside and discussed the plans for tomorrow. Dee and I have decided to head east to Phonsovan and the Plain of Jars while Brendan is going to go south straight to Vang Vieng and we’ll meet him there in a few days. Joel is going north to Nong Kwai for a couple of nights and we might catch up with him in Vientiane. Once we were all decided on our destinations I left the others to debate gun laws in the USA and Canada and went inside to pack. Although I was feeling much better today I’m still quite low on energy and today’s adventures wiped me out. Fell asleep with no problems.

Tags: Laos

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