Our pace has slowed down in Laos. Part of it is the culture. Laos people are very laid-back and do not pursue the tourists nearly as much as the other SE Asian countries. The other factor is that Rhonda is nursing a cold/virus that we want to eradicate as soon as possible.
Luang Prabang is a small city (50K people) on a narrow peninsula with rivers on both sides (Nam Khan and Mekong). It has many ancient temples and is easy to walk around especially near the riversides where you can also eat and drink at many places. We had lunch at Utopia, aptly named, a very relaxing spot high up on the riverbank with cushioned deck loungers to enjoy the view and serenity. While there we had an interesting conversation with a former London, Ontario (and U. of Calgary grad) man in his 30's who had come to Laos for a break from corporate life several years ago and has decided to live here full-time. He has leased the property and is running a wonderful establishment with great staff and good environmentally-friendly ideas to further grow his business which is already very popular. We wish him well.
Today we hired a tuk tuk driver for the day and went out to the Kuang Si Waterfalls, 30 km south of Luang Prabang. Along the way we saw a couple of large elephants walking along the road, something we don't normally see at home. Kuang Si was beautiful, a series of cascading waterfalls with natural basins at the bottom of most of them that you could swim in, which we did. Being in the mountains the menthol green water was refreshing(Canadian term) but a quick way to cool off from the 30+C temperature. The pools also had tiny fish that would nibble at your feet, something we had previously experienced in South America so we weren't alarmed. The park also had a nice bear sanctuary where they are housing Sun bears (smaller than our grizzlies) rescued from poachers who extract their bile for medicine, primarily to support the Chinese market. The bears were quite entertaining in their animal-friendly enclosure, climbing in and out of bamboo hammocks, rolling around in small ponds and playing with one another. It was difficult to know when to stop taking pictures. On our trip back home we were doused by a smiling young woman who seemed to be waiting for our vehicle to pass her village hut so that she could empty her water bucket on the road but she surprised us and drenched us in the back of the tuk tuk. Fortunately, it was clean water and what we now know is the beginning of the Laos New Year season where water skirmishes are traditional....we will be better prepared next time!
We have enjoyed our 4 days in Luang Prabang (and Laos in general), and would probably stay longer if we still didn't have so much to see with just over 2 weeks left in our SE Asia adventure. Tonight we will go back to the lively Night Market where the street food has been remarkable and perhaps a few more souvenirs that Rhonda will want me to add to my backpack. In the morning we will walk to the pier and get on a slow boat travelling up the Mekong towards northern Thailand where we will arrive two days later.
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