Luang Prabang

Hello everyone!

We just got back to Bangkok after spending five days in Luang Prabang, Laos. Definitely one of the most beautiful places we've been so far.  It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and is right on the Mekong River. It had really good food (Lao food is similar to Thai food) and was really cheap. 

The mountains and the Mekong made for spectacular sunsets and the best place to watch was from the top of Phousi Mountain, which was just a short walk up the hill, right in town. Phousi Mountain was also something of a joke around town as it is pronounced with a hard "P".  The many Australian dudes in Luang Prabang would ask the locals about the mountain and then giggle like schoolgirls when they would pronounce it.

        Sunset from Phousi Mountain

We did a really cool trip where we got to paddle down the Nam Ou river, which had some little class one rapids and beautiful limestone cliffs.  We also saw an elephant just causally grazing on the side of the river.  After several miles on the Nam Ou it flowed into the Mekong where we visited the cave of 4000 Buddhas.  It is a large riverside cave where the monks brought many Buddha statues during the Vietnam war to protect them from the bombs.  After the caves we paddled downstream to the village where they make Lao Lao Whiskey.  We tried some of the whiskey which tasted liked burning and luckily didn't make us blind.  It did however severely decrease Gina's desire to continue paddling so we lazily floated the last couple of miles to the finish.

                     Nam Ou River

               Look who we found on the side of the river

         Chilling on the Mekong River

     Paddling hard on the Nam Ou River

         Pak Ou Cave (Buddha Cave) 

            Small group of the many Buddhas in the cave

       Our lunch on the river Lao style

      Very complicated Lao Lao whiskey making process

                 Trying the whiskey- It burned going down

       Limestone cliffs on the Nam Ou

The next day we took a trip to the Kuang Si waterfall, which was quite an adventure just getting there. We ended up in a 12 seat van with 16 other people.  At one point we got pulled over, probably for having too many people in the van, and our driver had to make the necessary bribes before we could continue.  The waterfall was really amazing with multiple levels and great swimming holes.  There was also a bear rescue center there for Moon Bears, which look a lot like black bears. The rescue center exists because the bears are hunted for their bile, which is used in Chinese medicine.

                 Lao Moon Bear- They were all about the papaya!

                    Kuang Si Falls

              Top of Kuang Si Falls

        Testing out the water- it was cold!

     Lower Kuang Si Falls and one of the many swimming holes

      Last night's sunset on the Mekong (It got even better after some Beer Lao)

We are back in Bangkok now, staying at the wonderful Hickey residence overlooking the Chao Phraya River and being constantly entertained by little Houston McCoy Hickey. We're headed to Phuket tomorrow with the Hickey family for a few days of relaxing on the beach.

All the best to everyone back home.  Lots of love.

B and G