Friday, April 30, 2010

April 27-30, Luang Prabang, LAOS

April 27-30, Luang Prabang, LAOS

We took a bus to the border…which wasn’t so bad considering what was to come. We were pretty excited because instead of buying a package deal through some travel agency, we bought all our tickets and made our way to Laos on our own, saving about 600B. Once we got to the border we hopped on a boat across the (not so mighty right now) Mekong River. The ride from the border to Luang Prabang was not so great, to say the least. What we expected to be a 10 hour bus ride through the night, turned out to be 17.5 hrs through the mountains and jungles ofLaos. Aside from the terrain that made the trip longer than expected, the driver had to continuously stop the bus and water down the breaks that were overheating. The roads were also in pretty poor condition, turning from pavement to dirt/gravel the entire time. It was pretty miserable, and to top it off, the driver blasted his Laos pop music the entire trip.

Luang Prabang was definitely one of the best destinations at the end of a busride from hell. The town is beautiful, with brick side walks, quaint little villas along the river, and a huge hilltop wat in the center (that has a large footprint of Buddah). Because of the French influence, there is also some great food including roadside crepe stands and fresh baguette sandwiches.

The second day here we took a Tuk-Tuk out to the Kuang Si waterfalls, approximately 35km from Luang Prabang. We both agree that Kuang Si is one of the most beautiful places either of us has been to in the world. The water is a spectacular turquoise with about a 100 ft. main water fall and numerous natural pools that we swam in, each surrounded by countless bamboo trees. One pool had a rope swing that we went on a few times. It’s not easy to describe a place as amazing as this in words, so check out the photos. But hands down, this was one of the best places we’ve been to during our SE Asia travels.

Unfortunately, the night took a turn for the worst as both of us caught a horrible case of Buddha’s revenge.

The Mekong River

Monks throughout Luang Prabang

Our street in Luang Prabang

Delicious Baguette

Delicious Crepe

Kuang Si Waterfalls

Steph on the rope swing

Pete aka Tarzan





Dog going for a ride

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