#2 Laos
Wednesday December 16th
We woke up at 7:30 am and got aboard our boat at 8:00 and left at 8:30. We traveled 8 hours from Pakbang to Luang Prabang.
Here is a picture of Pakbang from outside the guesthouse where we spent the night.
A few pictures from as we were leaving Pakbang.
When we arrived, we went out for dinner at the night market and met with our friends from Thailand (Oliver and Adam). Thursday December 17th We had planned to go to visit a tribe today, but due to the rain the excursion would have been too trecharous. So we went around the city and visited a few temples.
Friday December 18th We woke up at 7 and rode with Hung Pen (his nickname is expensive), took a canoe across the Mekong River, and took a tuk tuk to bam som village (20 kilometer). Where we got off and started our hike.
Here is a photo of Hung Pen, our guide.
Us crossing the Mekong for about 5,000 kip (about a dollar).
When we arrived to the village at the bottom of the moutain,We saw some cute puppies and children playing in the street.
The kids would try and hit one another's spinners.
A photo of Adam Davis.
A photo of Oliver Olthoff.
At the begining of our hike.
Some water buffalo.
We hiked up the mountain to Pou Luang which took us 3 hours to go to the top. About 1,300 meters. When we arrived, it was so special and unique. We for sure felt like we were off the beaten path, and had not seen any travelers since we had crossed the Mekong River.
We were going into the clouds.
We stayed in a homestay house where we were able to cook and sleep. It was really nice. It was cold where we were staying and it was often foggy because we were in the clouds.
This is the village school for the children. The barb-wire fence is for the animals to stay out from.
Just before the dusk, I shot this HDR panoramic of the village.
Saturday December 19th 2015 We woke up the next day and made our decent to the bottom of the mountain. Our guide was starting to get on all of our nerves ( he was such a talker; which was very nice, but he at times would not stop talking, for example when we were all trying to go to sleep). When we got to the bottom of the hill, we had to work out getting a ride back to the Mekong River. When we got back to Luang Prabang, we all just took it easy, and got some food, coffee and accommodation at the guesthouse we were storing our bags in while we went adventuring.
Here is a picture from outside our room at the guest house we were staying at. The Sieng Khaen Lao.
Sunday December 20th
Oliver is a very talented artist and offered to paint some art on the wall of the reception in exchange for 2 nights free accomodation for the 5 of us.
Today we rented motor bikes and visited the Tad Sae waterfalls. They were so beautiful!
Adam on top of this tree house structure. We came at the end of the day, so it felt like a private experience.
In the evening, we went out to the local bar called Youtopia. It seems to be the place most of the travelers around go to.
It seems as though all the Tuk Tuk drivers keep asking me if I want to purchase opium or weed. I must get asked the question about 10-15 times a day.
Monday December 21st
Chris and I rode our scooters to the Kuang Si waterfalls early in the morning before all the tour groups arrived. The ride was very beutiful and when we arrived, the waterfalls were breath taking.
This is one of the most impressive waterfalls I have seen. It must be 100 feet high.
Some baby calves when we went on a walk to the top of the waterfall.
In the evening, we were invited to enjoy a family dinner with Anna Vu the wonderful woman in charge of the guesthouse we were staying in. She was so pleased with the artwork that Oliver had done on the wall.
It was a wonderful Vietnamese dinner with a variety of dishes and plenty of rice alcohol, which is quite strong.
Afterwards, we went back to the Youtopia bar with Anna and enjoyed some good conversation.
Tuesday December 22nd
Today we packed up and left to travel 26 hours East to Honoi in Northern Vietnam on a sleeper VIP bus.
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