November 26, 2007. Luang Prabang, Laos.

(notes from my journal)

We woke up at 7:30 am and headed to the main street. The destination was the Scandinavian Bakery. People and guide books have raved about this place. We figured since we’re here, a good cup of Lao coffee and pastries for breakfast might be worth a try. Alas, we were tad disappointed. While the coffee was excellent, the croissants and cinnamon bun was cold. Not even warmed up. The taste was ok, but half the fun of eating a croissant is that its warm! Even when we asked for it to be warmed it was just slightly warm (microwaved). I know I could have asked for it to be the way I like it, but if I’m in Laos and I’m paying $3 for something, I want it half-decent.

After breakfast, we walked along the banks of the Nam Ou river. Heena decided to buy some tamarind from a street seller when two novice monks came by and we asked if we can offer them our tamarinds. They were confused at first, but then it was apparent that they wanted something else (cost 2000 kip). So we offered to pay for it. Finally they figured what was going on and was thankful and we had a laugh on the confusion.

Back at our room, we got ready and headed out to the city for a stroll. Nothing special since we had 2 hours to kill so we made some calls back home to USA/India and pottered around some shops. At 1:30 pm, we headed to the Kuang Si falls. We had booked a shared van with Green Discovery Laos for $5 per person. The drive to the falls was really nice and we passed some scenic villages on the way. We arrived at the falls at 2:30 pm and had about 90 minutes at the falls. At the entrance, are a few Asiatic black bears and a tiger rescued from poachers since these animals’ body parts have high value in Chinese medicine.

The falls themselves were really beautiful. The water flows in levels and at level makes little blue ponds, in which people can swim if they like. According to our guide, the water is blue because the bottoms of the pools have bluish green moss. We hiked up to the top of the falls. It was quite a strenuous hike for us since we’ve not done an uphill climb in a while, and some parts simply did not have steps and you had to find your own way. While the climb up is a workout in itself, there are hardly any scenic views of any kind. We, however, did see where the falls start, but were tad disappointed. Back down, it was almost time to go.

Overall, while we loved the falls, if we were to do it again, I would reserve at least 3 hours at the falls and spend more time admiring the beauty and do the hike only if I wanted a workout. On the way back, we stopped at a Hmong village. We spent some time walking around the village just watching people do their daily chores.

In the evening, we walked about the night market a bit more. After that, we got dinner at Tum Tum Bamboo (link). We instantly loved Lao food! It has subtle flavors, yet can be made spicy. It is unlike Thai food where you have an array of curries, but has slightly drier food. I do not want to compare the two since they’re different, and we loved both. During dinner, my throat, that had been bothering me since Chiang Mai, started acting up really badly and I just wanted to get out of the restaurant (and the cool evening air which was hurting my throat with each breath that I took) and head back to our room. On the way, I got some anti-biotic to cure my throat from the pharmacy as well. The old pharmacist was like and old uncle and very personable.

Exhausted (from the coughing and throat ache), I just lay in bed hoping sleep would come. I amused myself with clips of the Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Youtube.

This post is a part of the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia 2007 itinerary