On arrival here we headed straight to get some baguettes for lunch - gotta love the French influence!
Then to cool down we took a tuk tuk and boat to Tad Sae waterfall - we're lucky to be here at the end of the wet season as this waterfall doesn't exist in dry season.
The water was so nice and refreshing - I actually felt cold for once!! We all splashed around in our t shirts and shorts (modesty being a key part of the locals lives) and summoned up the courage to jump off the waterfalls.
That evening we had a posh dinner at Dyen Sabai which involved taking a boat across the Nam Khan river and walking up the steps by the river bank illuminated by rope lights. The restaurant sits on a series of platforms on stilts by the river - it's really pretty but a mosquito lair! The only place I didn't put repellent was the soles of my feet - so of course that's where I got bitten!
Cat & me with the rest of the girls in our group, plus Billy our tour leader.
The restaurant's speciality is the 'fondue' - more like a BBQ and stock pot in one. You get a bucket of coals with a special metal top - you fry the meat on the top and add noodles & veggies to the liquid around the side for a complete meal. The buffalo meat was very tasty!
The following day 4 of us went on a trek with our local Stray guide, Cho. We started off in a Khamu village and also went through a Hmong one. These distinctly different tribes have different ways of building their traditional huts - however there was one similarity - they all had satellite dishes!
We trekked through the fields outside of the village and into the jungle to see the hermit cave. The cave was used as a bomb shelter during the Indochina war and is named for the large stalagmite that had been carved into a figure.
In the fields.
Avoiding the leeches in the jungle we headed to Kuang Si waterfall - waking down part of it where the wet season water level runs over the steps and passing monks on their way up.
The full glory of the waterfall.
After a quick cold swim we had a lunch of BBQ fish, sticky rice with Lao papaya salad and stir fried veg - all very healthy!
We were up early to see monks receiving alms but too late so we went to yoga and brunch instead, followed by massages. Mine was a warm herb massage and smelt lovely!
For sunset we headed to Phousi hill (also spelt Phu Si - English script language is quite flexible here) pronounced pussy - lots of jokes about that.....
Sunset was beautiful despite the hordes at the top of the hill - apparently sunrise is the better time to go....
That evening we ran into Kitty in a bar (having last seen her in Chang Mai headed for Pai) and celebrated by going to the only late night action - bowling!! The cheapest way to drink at the bowling was a bottle of the local rice whiskey, Lao Lao and seven up - it's not true what they say about not getting hangovers from Lao Lao!
The next day we were all suffering and chilled out at Books & Tea cafe to watch The Killing Fields on DVD.
When we were feeling up to it we hired bikes and cycled around town, visiting the most famous temple Wat Xieng Thong with its amazing decoration & mosaics.
To finish our bicycle tour we headed over the old bridge across the river - a tad scary with all the mopeds and motorbikes following us!
We then headed to Dyen Sabai for happy hour drinks and a scrabble competition, bringing me out of retirement - although I didn't win, I didn't come last :)
We also visited the national museum which used to be the royal palace until 1975 when the communist party won power and ended the monarchy. The palace isn't that old - built in the 1950s and has lots of 60s furniture as well as lots of gifts from other countries on display.
The royal car collection was all gifts from the American government and the palace had its own petrol pumps - just about the only thing we were allowed to photograph!
As we had some more time in Luang Prabang we were able to lounge around at the pool La Pistoche for a couple of days - sampling their 2-4-1 cocktails! We also tried out the night market buffet - 10000 kip for all you can pile on your plate (less than £1) and 30000 kip for a BBQ fish to go with it - we ate well in Luang Prabang!
On the morning we left we finally managed to get up at 5am to see the monks collecting alms - unfortunately it was a bit of a circus with many tour groups wizzing up in buses, not knowing what they were doing and getting in the monks faces with flash photography (a complete no no). We'd been warned before that it was touristy and not to buy rice from the street sellers to give the monks - soon there will be more locals selling rice than giving alms....
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