Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a beautiful city with rows of French colonial architecture overlooking the merging of the Nam Khan river into the Mekong. There is a small mountain right in the middle of the peninsula with a temple at the top called Mount Phousi which I didn’t get to climb until today was killing a few hours before my train to Vang Vieng. After spending a few days in and around the town it was great to get a panoramic view of all the places I had visited.

The first place was the Kuang Si waterfalls two days ago. I’m not normally a fan of the overcrowded touristy sites but this one was worth it. The source of the waterfall, about a 15 minute steep hike from the base, leads into a beautiful high waterfall followed by a series of small cascades over limestone ledges.

I had a great time having a swim and climb around some of the waterfalls, but I also managed to graze my face and chest from swimming into a rock… not clever.

The next spot was the Pak Ou caves North of the city the next day. Now these were not so worth it. A long drive on terrible roads with Harry on the back of my moped Just to see a small cave on the mountainside full of various Buddha statues and begging children.

We did see some elephants up close on the way back although they were just chilling in what looks like someone’s front garden. After feeding them we saw one get whacked with a massive stick for getting too close to the house so we decided it was time to leave. I’m not really sure why the elephants were there, we didn’t pay to see or feed them they just seemed more like the pets of the landowners who let tourists come and say hi.

I’ve also started to find a group to join for Vang Vieng and we’ve spent the last couple of nights enjoying the fantastic night markets before heading to the bowling alley which is the only place open after 10 pm. It’s been nice to have some people who I can just show up and socialise with without having the same conversations on repeat about where I’m from and where I’m going. It turns out that a couple of the guys are from Woking/Guildford too!! Small world eh?Read more