2nd stay in Luang Prabang

I met a Dutch girl my age in Vietnam and we wanted to travel Laos together. On Monday, 03.02.2020, she arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos. So, I didn't "lose" any days due to my cold, as I would be exploring the city with her anyway and I wasn't upset about having a week to rest for myself.

We wanted to stay in the same hostel, so we booked the same one - or so we thought. When she arrived, it turned out I was in Backpackers Hostel and she was in Backpackers Hostel 2. Since mine had a better location, she wanted to move to mine, but it was unfortunately full, so I moved to hers. So, in total, I stayed in 4 hostels in this city, which is definitely a new record (but I didn't need to do it again). The other hostel residents all thought we were sisters and laughed at us for the hostel situation, saying that we are both blond, so it can happen.

For the next day, we had booked a tour to the famous Kouang Si Waterfalls. A minibus picked us up directly at the hostel, and an hour later, we were there. On the premises, there is not only the waterfall but also a rescue center for Asiatic black bears. In Chinese medicine, their bile is considered an effective remedy, so they are kept captive in small cages. After being freed by animal rights activists, they are brought to the rescue center at the waterfall, where they are nurtured back to health before being released back into the wild.

The waterfall itself is relatively large and has 3 bathing spots. We decided to hike all the way up to the top and then relax by bathing. The path up was very steep and extremely difficult to walk on, and a makeshift bamboo railing was not very helpful, as it was already very loose. When we reached the top, we were a bit disappointed with the view. The path for walking was set back so far that we couldn't even see the water down below. So, we walked back down on the other side, or rather crawled on all fours. I knew we were going to swim and had accordingly worn my flip flops, which, logically, didn't provide good grip for walking...

When we arrived back at the bathing spot, we quickly got into the water and cooled off. The water was surprisingly cold but so blue and turquoise, it looked like they used coloring agents. Of course, that's not the case, everything is of natural origin. After a total stay of 3 hours, we returned back by bus.

Since 1995, Luang Prabang has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The traditional Laotian architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries is best preserved here compared to all other cities in the country, and it has been placed under monument protection. As a result, all bars and restaurants close at 11:00 PM, and the tourist tip for after that is the bowling center. At first, I thought the bowling lanes were just a cover-up and there was a disco behind it, but literally everyone was playing bowling. Though barefoot or at most in sandals, so completely different from Germany, I couldn't resist and played as well. On the premises, there was even a shooting range with archery, but I decided not to do it because of the few beers I had. Many others played and were naturally unable to hit the target, resulting in many holes in the ceiling, for example (yes, the ceiling, people missed the target by a long shot), but the Laotians are apparently used to that.