Luang Prabang

Hi All,

After a gruelling 14 hour night bus, we finally made it to Luang Prabang. It is safe to say that none of us are fond of ‘sleeper’ buses that drive at break neck speeds along cliff edge roads, throwing you from side to side at each and every bend. The double decker bus is filled with tiny double beds that even Beth at just 5ft4 found a squeeze. While Beth and Danielle shared a bed so were able to change positions during the night, Ross shared his personal space with a stranger so was stuck in the same uncomfortable position all night; it was only in the morning when walking to the hostel that he finally found out the name of the guy he had slept with the night before!

That day Beth treated us to full body Lao massages as part of our belated Christmas present. The hard pressure and thumping on our backs was actually much welcomed after sleeping on what resembled a primary school gym mat in the bus the night before. Although, Beth didn’t appreciate the masseuse punching the huge bruise on her leg from when she crashed into Danielle on bicycles in Vientiane! Feeling very relaxed, we climbed up Mount Phu Si for sunset. While the sunset was beautiful, the location was less than tranquil, as we stood crammed with hundreds of other tourists fighting for the best view. After descending the mountain (hill), we were greeted with a whole street of vibrant market stalls for a spot of retail therapy. Beth brought half the market and we brought our fair share of souvenirs to send home with her too: table runners (so grown up), floaty trousers, patterned scarfs, Christmas tree decorations and lanterns to name a few.

The following day was truly one will will remember for years to come. We began by renting mopeds to drive to nearby Kuang Si Waterfall. The waterfall itself was absolutely breathtaking. With every corner we turned on our walk to the top, there was yet another fall or pool of bright turquoise water - each more beautiful and impressive than the last. The water is naturally this blue due to calcium minerals dissolved within it. Ross was in a photographers paradise and couldn’t take enough long exposure shots of the rushing water. When we had just about managed to take in the sheer beauty, we decided it was time to take a swim. The pools were colder than we had anticipated but we still thought it was seriously cool to be able to swim in them and climb up and behind the sheets of water. At the bottom of the waterfall was a moon bear sanctuary for bears rescued from the Chinese medicine trade. Seeing these adorable bears was an unexpected bonus for an already incredible day.

Then just when we thought it couldn’t get any better we spotted the sign for ‘Fasay Garden and cooking class’. It turned out to be an amazing experience and so much more than just a cooking class! Sai, his wife and mother showed us how to make some traditional Lao dishes - our favourite was the mushroom spring rolls which we got to eat both fresh and fried. We also made a green papaya salad, omelette, fried Mekong seaweed, bamboo shoots, all served with a delicious peanut sauce and obligatory sticky rice of course. The food was incredible and we would have been happy to head back after but Sai instead he showed us round his garden where he grows all the vegetables we had just enjoyed. It reminded Ross and Beth of their grandfathers allotment. He then took us round the village showing us a local blacksmith, lumber mill (with zero health and saftey!), how people keep animals and the gardens where the local people grow their food. The stay continued to exceed expectations when we returned as Sai explained that he voluntarily opens his living room to teach local children English and maths after school. The first group were adorable 6-11 year olds, all attempting addition and subtraction questions. Of course teacher mode set in for Danielle! An hour later a group of teenagers turned up, all eager to ask us questions in English. We were having such an amazing time with Sai and his family that we didn’t want to leave but sadly said our goodbyes so we could make it back on the bikes before it got dark. Beth even had a go on a quieter stretch of road.

We used Luang Prabang as our base for exploring northern Laos, taking two ‘mini-breaks’: the first to visit an elephant conservation centre (blog already posted) and the second an overnight jungle zip lining experience (post still to come). On the morning we headed off for zip lining, we got up super early to see Buddhist Alms Giving Ceremony. Locals lined the streets to offer sticky rice to the monks of local monasteries as they do everyday (a tradition from the 14th century). As the sun rose, it was wonderful to watch the monks in their saffron clad robes proceeding down the main high street for this spiritual ceremony. While we watched from a distance, it was sad to see some tourists being blatantly disrespectful and following the monks with cameras in their faces.

As we were disappointed we couldn’t spend more time with the children in Sai’s class, we jumped at the opportunity to spend a morning helping local college students with their English back in the main town centre. Each of us was paired 1:1 with a student at ‘Big Brother Mouse’ who we all really enjoyed spending time with. Each student was different, the least confident wanted to practice using words in the correct context with Ross, one wanted to practice conversational skills by asking and answering questions with Danielle and the most confident went on to discuss cultural and moral issues such as the ‘worth’ of women with Beth...needless to say this one took a while! It was lovely to be able to give just a tiny bit of our time back to the community.

We concluded our time in Luang Prabang by spending a leisurely day exploring the towns cute, boutique shops and visiting many of the historical temples. The most impressive of which was Wat Xieng Thong. It was hard to decide whether the inside or outside was decorated more impressively. Finally we enjoyed a few cocktails and played yet more card games before having a great dinner overlooking the Mekong River.

Next we are starting to make our way back down south, stopping off in the town of Vang Vieng. (Well technically we’ve already been but Beth kept us busy so now we are playing catch up with posts!)

Love R, D and B xxx