Luang Prabang, the city of sunsets.

July 28th

somewhere between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang.

I'm sitting in a small minivan with 14 other people, driving on a road full of potholes towards Luang Prabang. My knees are pressed against the seat in front of me, and the floor of the minivan is covered with luggage. It's going to be a comfortable five hours. I have no way to stretch my legs or even touch the floor, and every bump in the road makes my head hit the roof of the minivan. 🚐 How do people taller than 1.70m manage this? 🤔 

I message Peter, who left Vang Vieng two days ago to explore the Tonkrug Plains to the east, letting him know that I will be arriving in Luang Prabang around the same time as him, but I can't say for sure because when I asked the driver how long the journey would still take, he answered with 'between 4 and 6 hours.' 🤔 There are two other Germans in the minivan, a backpacker couple, who constantly complain about the conditions and circumstances of this bus ride. I decide not to reveal that I am also German and listen amusedly to their ranting about the other passengers. My piercings are also a topic of conversation, and the girl apparently finds them incredibly terrible and would never have 'such things in her ear' herself. 😂 We drive up the steep serpentines and down the other side of the mountain. And then up again. And then down again. Curve after curve. Pothole after pothole. The more time passes, the more uncomfortable the pervasive smell becomes, because of course, it's 35°C and sunny on the day I leave. ☀️ The complaining German girl comments on all of this, as the rest of the bus is filled with Koreans. After half the journey, we stop at a rest area at the top of a mountain. The girl sitting behind me has been suspiciously quiet for the past half hour, and as soon as the minivan's sliding door is opened by the driver, she rushes out over the suitcases lying on the floor and vomits discreetly right in front of the exit. 🤮 Well, what can I say.. my sympathy for her was very limited. 😅

The remaining 3 hours of the journey were quite calm in the minivan, I plug my headphones into my ears and watch the jungle passing by. I arrive in Luang Prabang at 4:30 pm, walk another 15 minutes to my new hostel, and find myself in a dormitory with 10 beds. The Smile Hostel is not as authentic as my last one, but I have a rain shower! 🌧️ As I chat briefly with one of my roommates, the curtain of the bed next to me is pulled aside and behold.. Baptisté, who checked out of Vang Vieng very early on the same day, is grinning at me. By the way, Baptisté is a very introverted programmer from France who has been traveling for 15 months. He is very excited when I tell him that I will soon be meeting Peter in town for dinner and of course, he joins me. It's almost like being in Vang Vieng again. 😂 After dinner, we walk through the park in the city center up to the viewpoint Wat Tham Phu Si and admire the sunset over the Mekong River, which surrounds the city.

The sun has long disappeared behind the horizon, but we linger in the park, laugh a lot, drink beer, and talk about our families and our lives back home. The topics of conversation never run out, as so many things are completely different in France, Germany, and Canada. 

🇨🇵🇩🇪🇨🇦 

We make plans for the next few days and stroll through the colorful, but rather quiet night market. I could spend all my savings here. Seriously. The clothes, bags, and especially the jewelry are incredibly beautiful.

July 29th. Luang Prabang.

Originally, I had planned to watch the monk blessings at sunrise with Peter, but I manage to oversleep my alarm at 5:00 am. 😴 Luckily, Peter is not mad at me and tells me about his observations in the morning when we meet up with Baptisté at 8 am to go to the next motorbike rental. We rent two motorbikes for the next 24 hours for the equivalent of 7€ and head west. The roads around Luang Prabang are all paved unlike those in Vang Vieng. During the one-hour ride through small villages, where I have to dodge chickens running across the road and encounter a buffalo blocking the way on some mountain roads, we startle numerous butterflies along the roadside. 🦋 What a magnificent sight. The sun is shining, the roads are relatively good, and there are butterflies everywhere. I am delighted to have the motorbike all to myself and speed up. It's a wonderful feeling.

When we arrive at the parking lot of Kuang Si Waterfall, we hike through the forest for about 15 minutes. The area around the waterfall belongs to a bear rescue center. 🐻 We talk to one of the staff members, who tells us that he has been involved in over 200 rescue missions himself and that the black bears used to be kept in tiny cages.

Many of them were on the verge of starvation and all of them had been injured by their previous owners. Although the conditions of the enclosures initially seemed rundown and small to me, I am clearly convinced that the 35 bears in this center are doing very well and that the staff here are dedicated with heart and soul. 🆘

The park around Kuang Si Waterfall is enchanting. We walk past the spots where you can swim and up to the actual waterfall and even further up.

We climb a slippery and flooded staircase to the top of the waterfall. I take off my shoes and balance barefoot on the steps. The cold water between my toes and the slippery ground under my feet awaken a real joy of life in me. 😍

Once at the top, I discover a swing just above the water surface and without much thought, I run into the cool water. Peter laughs at me, as apparently no one else goes into the water at this spot, but my inner child won't let me pass the swing without swinging back and forth a few times. 👶🏼

We hike back down on the other side of the waterfall and find a spot at one of the three designated swimming areas where we leave our backpacks. The greenish-blue water is fresh, but the sun keeps appearing and I sit in one of the natural pools for a few hours.

In the water, you can observe the countless fish, and I am startled when the first fish start nibbling at my feet. The little rascals are keen on the dead skin areas and it tickles so much! 🐟

A few hours later, it starts to thunder and we walk back through the bear rescue center to the parking lot, have a small meal, and drive another three-quarters of an hour to the other waterfall in the area. Fortunately, we escape the rain, but the last stretch of road before our destination consists of dirt, just like the roads around Vang Vieng, and is therefore very slippery. I slide sideways a few times with the back tire, but manage to maintain my balance. Peter, with his manual transmission motorbike, manages to regulate his speed better and has better control over his vehicle compared to me with my automatic transmission. But we all arrive safely at the Nam Khan riverbank and for 30,000 kip (3€) we are allowed to cross to the other side with a longtail boat. It's my first time ever on a longtail boat and I am once again euphoric like a child. Baptisté laughs at me and starts splashing water in my direction. We observe the Laos people on the riverbank, washing their laundry or their children.

It's already 4:30 pm and when we arrive on the other side, another longtail boat departs with three people for the return journey. We climb the steps from the riverbank and notice the first huts and stalls that are set up everywhere near the attractions. But something is different. We walk along the wooden walkways, and after a few meters, we realize that we are the only people on this side of the river as far as the eye can see.

Normally, at the foot of the waterfall, you can buy food and drinks in various bays, and even an elephant observation point is indicated at one of the platforms. 🐘 But here, there are neither people selling anything, nor do we spot any elephants in the distance. The only indication of tourism are the refrigerators secured with steel chains and the plastic chairs that are left behind. Peter jokes about a zombie apocalypse. 🧟‍♂️

The 'waterfall' and the surrounding pools, which we walk along for the next 20 minutes, are quite water-deficient. We walk through the pools most of the way, and the ground is very slippery. The whole area seems rundown and as if no one has been here for years. The hiking trails are overgrown, and there are a few fallen trees in our way. At the waterfall itself, we find the only pool that is completely filled with water and pause for a few moments to let the atmosphere sink in.

When we arrive back in the valley, we stroll through the abandoned stalls and discover another refrigerator behind a bar, filled to the brim with cold drinks. The steel chain around the two handles is incredibly loose, and I try to open the doors. They open about three fingers wide, and I look around with a grin. Baptisté holds the doors open, and I reach inside with my hand. Free drinks 🍻 I take three small bottles of beer, Peter puts them in his backpack, and as dusk sets in, we make our way back to the ferry dock. We hear an elephant trumpeting in the distance. 🐘 Peter, now jumping around in excitement like a little child, but we still continue our journey back. We wake up the sleeping Lao, who brought us here, and embark happily on the return journey to the other side.

Back in Luang Prabang, we park our motorbikes on the street by the river and this time, we watch the sunset from the riverbank. Our stolen beers are still cold and somehow taste like an adventure. 🤔😉 

July 30th

The air conditioning in my dormitory takes its job a little too seriously. I am woken up by my phone ringing at 7:30 am and have a sore throat. The room is cooled down to what feels like Arctic temperatures and I am glad that it is a little warmer outside. Peter and I ride the motorbikes back to the rental shop, and we arrange to meet for lunch when it starts raining. 🌧️ When Peter returns from his trip to one of the rice farms around noon, it still hasn't stopped raining. It's pouring. I put on my rain jacket and we go in search of food.

Peter is flying to India in the afternoon and we review the last few days over lunch. I say goodbye and walk back to the hostel in my flip-flops through the flooded streets. 

Originally, I wanted to visit the city's botanical garden today, but this plan quite literally fell through. So, I decide to extend my stay for another night. In the evening, I stroll through the night market with two German girls from my dorm who were in Australia just two weeks ago. 

July 31st

During breakfast outdoors, as every morning, which is included in my accommodation price (€3 for one night), I meet Maureen from London. She has been traveling around the world for 3 years and will be flying back to her home country at the end of the week, so we agree to meet up for some drinks later. 

In the meantime, I head to the botanical garden, only to find out that it is closed on Wednesdays. 🙄😅 So, I walk back to the hostel and extend my stay for another night, as this botanical garden is the first and only one in the entire country. I decide to explore the city more and after a incredibly delicious banana cake and iced latte, I spend the afternoon walking through what feels like every street in Luang Prabang.

In the evening, Maureen and I enjoy the vegetarian buffet for 15000 kip (€1.50) in the food street of the night market, and we end the evening at the Utopia Bar by the riverbank. The bar is packed with travelers from all over the world, all lounging on bean bags and fabric strips between the dim lights, and the atmosphere is relaxed. 🍹 

When the bar kicks out its guests at 11 pm, we stroll through the streets with our beer, talk about past romances, and have a really hard time finding an ice cream anywhere. Apparently, the whole city goes to sleep at 11 pm. 😴 But we were lucky in a tiny shop in a side street, where we finally got our long-awaited ice cream 🍦 and as we join a few more English people in our hostel, some joints are passed around. 

(At this point, I would usually apologize to my parents, but you know me 😅🙈❤️) 

August 1st 

Finally. I've been waiting for two days. Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden - here I am. 🌿 I step into the office and wonder about its location in the middle of the city. Where is the garden supposed to be? 🤔 But as I quickly find out, the ticket price includes a 15-minute ride across the Mekong River. 

I wander through the garden and I'm in my element. Besides numerous different bamboo species and palms, I discover countless calathea plants, sansevierias, aloe veras, curcuma plants, wild orchid species, euohorbias, and many more... 🌴🌵🌿 I don't come across a single soul on my route except for the garden's staff. 

Included in the ticket price is also a mini workshop, where I weave a small bird out of bamboo. 🐦 I am the only participant of this workshop. Or maybe the only visitor to the garden today? 😂

I have a long conversation with the instructor Ernst, a Dutchman who co-founded and designed the botanical garden and has been living in Laos for over 15 years. Like me, he is a trained florist 💐 and he offers me the opportunity to contact him anytime if I decide to come back to Luang Prabang to work. We have coffee and he tells me about his career path so far before I take the late afternoon boat back across the Mekong River. 

I meet up with Maureen at the hostel, and we walk along the riverbank searching for the cheapest sunset river cruise. We find a really cute boat, and Maureen manages to negotiate the ticket price down by €2 by telling the owner that she is leaving the country in a few days and doesn't have much money left. We board the boat and even get a complimentary mojito, enjoying the two-hour cruise.

One of the staff members gives each guest a banana leaf and tells us to write a wish on it. We throw the banana leaves into the Mekong River with five catfish while the sky changes its colors in the background. 🌅 

The clouds change color, we sink deeper into our deck chairs, and Moby's 'Porcelain' is playing. One of those moments. I become nostalgic, and Maureen has an incredible sense for that. We lean against each other, talk about the wishes we released, and Maureen catches my nostalgia. We both shed a few tears but are also incredibly happy. 

Back on land, we walk towards the Utopia Bar again and meet half of our hostel there. Many drinks. Lots of laughter. The first time dancing.

At some point, around 3 am, I stumble back to my dormitory and wake up Baptisté with my clumsiness. He is actually happy about it and we say goodbye. I pack up my remaining belongings and get some sleep for another 4 hours or so. 

Departure to Nong Khiaw,

tomorrow at 8 am.