Of temples and waterfalls
Published: 13.03.2018
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[by Franzi] Today is Tuesday and only now we are continuing our journey. Not as announced in the last blog on Monday. We extended our stay in Luang Prabang by one night because we liked the city so much and wanted to see more of it, and Jonas had his birthday on Monday, so we didn't necessarily want to travel on that day and could spend a nice day together. But this blog is not about our onward journey, but rather about our beautiful stay in the city of Luang Prabang..
We arrived here on Friday, and we have already reported on our arrival and the day itself in our last blog. On Saturday, we were typical tourists and visited some very beautiful sights. We climbed Mount "Phou Si" (20,000 Kip / person = 1.96€), which owes its name to the Stupa of the same name at the top of the mountain. On the way up, we climbed 400 steps, each of which was different in height. We passed golden Buddhas, Buddha's footprint, and small temples. Already on the way, but especially when we arrived at the top, we had a wonderful view over the city, the surroundings, and the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang. We could also see the Nam Khan River flowing into the Mekong from above. The way down was a bit less interesting, just descending the stairs on the other side of the mountain. When we reached the bottom, we discovered an old temple adorned with glowing mosaics, "Wat Pa Huak". Unfortunately, it was closed and we couldn't go inside.
After a little refreshment in a small café right on the Mekong, we walked to the most important temple in Luang Prabang, the "Wat Xieng Thong" (20,000 Kip / person = 1.96€). A super beautiful, quite old building, but still well preserved. One is amazed by all the gold. Wherever you look, you see everything in gold! You can spend so much time in the different temples and always discover something new. No temple is the same. Although they are often built in the same way, they are all different and have their own charm.
Afterwards, we walked upstream along the Mekong to the spot where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong and dipped our feet in the cold water for a while.
In the evening, we went to "Utopia," the ultimate backpacker bar in Luang Prabang. It's all kind of half outside, simply covered and open. There are cushions for sitting on small tables, but you can also sit on wooden stumps or relax on a terrace above the bank of the Nam Khan River. We sat down at one of the wooden tables with a cool Laotian beer, "BeerLao," very close to the Nam Khan, even though we couldn't see it anymore, but it was still great to sit outside. Just two minutes after we sat down at our table, we both looked at the neighboring table because new people were sitting down there. At the same moment, we realized that they were the four Dutch people from our trekking tour through the jungle in Chiang Mai (Thailand). We immediately started talking to them, and they remembered us too. What a coincidence! The four of them were in Luang Prabang for exactly one night, and on this evening, they went to Utopia, just like us. And on this evening, so many kilometers away, in a different country, we met them again. We talked about what we had been doing since then, how we were doing, etc. All in all, a very successful and beautiful evening!
We took it a bit easier the next day. After watching a movie in the morning, we finally went out for lunch. Then we strolled through the city with the goal of getting a massage. The two days before, we saw so many different massage salons, but surprisingly, there were hardly any to be found that day. After some searching, we finally found one whose name we had read on Tripadvisor and that had good ratings. So we had a massage here - we chose an oil massage (80,000 Kip / person = 7.86€). A super relaxing massage for an hour. We both could switch off and just enjoy it.
For the next day, we rented a scooter from the hostel. Officially, we signed the contract and checked the scooter. It turned out that the lights weren't working. So the provider that the hostel always hires for scooter rentals took it to the workshop and replaced the lights. When he came back and Jonas and I started driving, he noticed after a few meters that the speedometer wasn't working. So we went back. Our hostel and the provider just said "it's okay, it's okay." But it wasn't okay for us, and we insisted on a different scooter that works properly. Otherwise, in the end, they could have blamed us and made us pay for it. After some back and forth and a total of an hour, we had a fully functional, fairly new scooter (driven about 500km) and took a little test ride. In the evening, we went to the market to get something to eat. We had noodles with vegetables in soy sauce (10,000 Kip = 98 cents) and some chicken skewers, some with vegetables (5,000 Kip each = 49 cents).
Monday had a bit more on the agenda than Sunday. For Jonas' birthday, we took the scooter to "Tad Kuang Si" (20,000 Kip / person = 1.96€), a huge waterfall with several small pools that extend over a surprisingly long distance. The route was about 25km long, very winding, and sometimes very hilly. But we drove through landscapes with great views, so the journey itself was already worth it. Every now and then, we were the only ones on the road, which gave us a feeling of freedom. To avoid the mass tourism, we left quite early and were already at the waterfall area around 10 o'clock. We walked through the rainforest for a while until we arrived and found many small pools to marvel at. A little further up, there was the big waterfall, which we climbed up the side through the forest. The view was fantastic! On the way down, we made a little stop at a fairly large pool, went swimming in the clear, turquoise water, and had a little snack.
On the way out, we passed the integrated bear zoo on the waterfall grounds. The bears are freed from poachers who want to sell the animals. There, they can lead a peaceful life.
Actually, we had planned to visit another waterfall afterwards. However, this one is said to dry up a lot during the dry season and have hardly any water. Since the waterfall was also about 20km in the opposite direction from Luang Prabang, so we would have had to drive at least about 45km, and we thought that was a bit too much, so we spontaneously decided not to do it. We will never find out if the waterfall has water at the moment and if it would have been worth it.
But we still wanted to do something that day, so we walked over one of the bamboo bridges that cross the Nam Khan River. The bridges are only there during the 6 months of the dry season, as in the rainy season, the river becomes so wide and powerful that the bridges can hardly withstand it. That's why they are always built and dismantled by hand. To finance this, the bridge also costs 5,000 Kip (49 cents) to cross it and come back. Unfortunately, the other side of the Nam Khan turned out to be a bit less interesting than expected. We found a small temple, which we were not allowed to enter because of our choice of clothing, and simply strolled through a few small streets. Before we crossed the bamboo bridge again, we went down to the edge of the Nam Khan.
Already upon arrival in Luang Prabang, the friendly staff at our hostel recommended a barbecue buffet right on the Mekong, and because it was a special day, we thought we'd give it a try. It was an outdoor restaurant, we signed up and paid, and could go to a table. There, we realized that it was the same concept as in Udon Thani, where we grilled at the table, only in a buffet form and with charcoal. If you want to read the exact setup, you can do so in this blog (just click on it). At the buffet, we got a small selection of everything to try, and we still don't know exactly what some of the things were. We could still get second helpings. After a while, when we were already busy eating, it suddenly started pouring rain, a real tropical downpour. Since the whole thing took place outdoors, this was of course a small problem because everything got wet. But the restaurant wasn't just outdoors, as we then realized. On the other side of the street was the actual restaurant, which moves everything outside to the Mekong when the weather is good. So everyone moved under the roof with their things. It took a while for the staff to get everything dry, and then it continued. We received a container in the middle of the table, and hot coals were put into it. Shortly afterward, we could start grilling and eating again. When we were full and it had stopped raining, we returned to our hostel.
We were a bit lazy writing the blog these days, so it's a bit delayed compared to usual. In the meantime, we are already in the next place, you will find out exactly where in the next blog. You can also look forward to impressive pictures.
Until then, have a great time, everyone.
Franzi and Jonas
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