Although we could have easily spent another couple of days in Vang Vieng laying in our bungalow hammocks, we hopped on a day bus up the windy and sometimes nauseating road to Luang Prabang. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful rides yet. (It has been well worth the sore butts to travel the countryside of both Vietnam and Laos, getting to appreciate how most of the people in each country actually live. We have been able to stop at many local villages along the way interacting with the people.) A lot of the villagers live right between the main road and the edge of the 400 foot cliff!!!!!! We are assuming this is so they are close to the power lines, but still looks very very unsafe. After the beautiful, but long six hour trip we were excited to get off the bus and meet up with our good friends from San Francisco, Kevin & Hannah O'brien. They had arrived into Luang Prabang a few days before us from Northern Thailand. It was so great to see good friends half way around the world in Laos.....pretty amazing when you think about it!! Of course the first thing we had to do was have a few Big Laos Beers and start swapping stories about our adventures while watching the sun set over the Mekong.
This eventually bled into dinner at a great little riverside restaurant specializing in hotpot (Laos BBQ). Very challenging, but worth the time and effort, Laos BBQ is where the waiter brings you a pile of fresh vegetables accompanied by marinated chicken, pork and beef. And of course some sauces unique to Northern Laos and chilies. Kevin and Shaun are both gluttons for punishment with the same mindset that you are not truly eating unless your mouth is on fire and you have a good sweat on the brow. Although they both have both found out it is a lot more bearable if you actually eat the peppers with some other food. Knowing we were in for a big day the following day we decided to limit our drinks to a few scotches and in Rayann and Hannah's case a Coconut Milk and Lao Vodka at Lao Lao Garden, which translates into whiskey garden. The 'scotch' as they called it was surprisingly smooth, and at the price of $20k kip ($2.50) & buy 1 get 1 free, the price was right.
The next day we got up early and headed up to the Kouang Si Waterfalls. This place blows any other waterfalls out of the water (see pics). They are multi-tiered pools of blue green water that only get more extraordinary around every corner. Every time you think it is done another set of pools and rapids appear until finally you arrive at the main waterfall that cascades down about 30 meters into a pool below. After a steep hike up to the top of the falls we enjoyed a chicken sandwich that we packed into our bags (our new favorite lunch out here).
The falls were great to hike around, but now it was getting hot out and it was time to get into the water and jump some waterfalls and try out the "Tarzan Swing"! Needless to say, the Tarzan swing is exactly what you would expect from a rope that is named such. The premise is that you climb a steep, slippery tree, corral the hanging rope with a small hooked branch and viola.......you are transformed into Tarzan swinging effortlessly through the air letting go of the rope and splashing into the cool blue water. Right before Kevin and Shaun get to the tree to give it the old college try, a local boy maybe 10 or 11 years old scoots past them, scales the tree, grabs the rope and nails a perfect "Tarzan dive". Kevin and Shaun look at each other, give a nod of approval and head up the tree for their Tarzan imitations. Easy enough right. Wrong (sorry Kev) On his first attempt he left too much slack in the rope. The laws of gravity held true and when he jumped off the tree the rope tightened, and he slid right down the rope and splashed into the water........no swinging involved. Not to worry though, I think the crowd of about 30-40 people got their monies worth and got some great entertainment and pictures.
This is a picture of Kevin's first jump - note the 2 guys in the background laughing.
This is a picture of Kevin's first jump - note the 2 guys in the background laughing.
But in the end Kevin redeemed himself and nailed a few swings right after the failed first attempt. It should also be noted that of the 10-15 people who tried the swing about half did the exact same thing, including one poor guy who didn't let go of the rope and hit the tree coming back towards the shore narrowly missing the rock ledge.
Day two in Luang Prabang we chartered a long-tail boat up the Mekong to Caves and a stop at 'whiskey village'. The first cave was filled with hundreds of Buddha statues of all different sizes and poses. Compared to all of the other caves on our trip this one lacked in size, but was still very interesting when you add in the dusty, cob-webbed statues.......kinda eerie.
Really, the highlight was the boat ride itself. Putting along the Mekong with the sun shining surrounded by jungle and getting to see riverside villagers do their daily chores was awesome, whether it be fishing the river, washing their clothes and dishes or the kids doing back flips off the river bed. The whiskey village was very unique and apparently grew vegetables until they found out that Lao Lao was a much more lucrative business. After taking a windy path through the village we arrived at the "brewing station" that was manned by a little old woman that was more than happy to show us around her little compound and have us taste the different types of whiskey. She also showed us the different stages of brewing the whiskey from the fermentation of the rice to the final stage of dripping the finished product into the barrels.
Link to the Lao pictures again: https://picasaweb.google.com/rayann.torres/Laos#
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