Luang Prabang: Waterfalls and Bicycles

After a languid breakfast at one of the many cafes along the Mekong, Lauren, Frank, and Matt decided to join us on our tuk tuk journey to the waterfalls 30 km outside of town that Adam and Laura recommended to us. The ride through the countryside revealed more and more stunning views of the towering mountains and deep valleys that form the Laotian landscape. We were amazed by the beauty of the first waterfall, and very pleased to find that each tier outdid its predecessor! The pools all had the same eerie blue green color that those in Kanchanaburi had and the same nibbling fish, although much less in number. After a few pools, we found one that had a great rope swing and the top of the waterfall was perfect for jumping off. This entertained us for at least 45 minutes, and we definitely could have stayed longer!

We continued hiking and being impressed by the beauty of the falls until we reached the bottom of the first and topmost falls, a sight that may defy words. Water cascaded over the limestone face at least 100 meters to fall gently to rest in a small pool constantly sprayed with mist. It was gorgeous and so much better than we thought it would be! We decided to hike to the top of those falls, and we were rewarded with a great view of the mountains and valleys beyond, but not much else. We couldn’t figure out how to get to the “secret pool”, but later found out that it was really easy and we were just a little slow! It was a great way to spend a day!

Back in town, we found our Irish friends from Chiang Mai and made plans to meet them for dinner before renting bicycles for the next 24 hours as our means to get around. We wandered through the night market with our new friends before heading to Lao Lao Garden for dinner. Justin and I soon realized that Frank and Lauren had witnessed Debbie and Mandy’s elephant debacle from a bamboo raft below! We all knew we would be great friends after a coincidence like that. At dinner, we cooked our own traditional Laotian bar-b-que meal and met up with trekker Alex. We had a blast with discounted BeerLao and a bucket of coals with a grill over it in the middle of the tables. The food honestly wasn’t to die for, but we had so much fun it was completely worth it! Some one had seen on the menu that with parties of seven of more celebrating an event, you get a free cake. Before our Irish friends didn’t show, we thought it would be fun to get Debbie a birthday cake for her recent 21st. Too bad the cake came and she didn’t, so I pretended to be Debbie because my birthday was closest! It was awesome and we somewhat tipsily cycled home at the end of the evening.