Ban Lekpèt

We arrived at Luang Prabang yesterday afternoon following a short flight from Bangkok. Luang Prabang is a town in central Laos located in the mountainous region along the Mekong river. So far, it looks to have a very friendly feel although there are few tourists around.

After receiving some tips from the hotel owner, we dropped our backpacks in the room and went straight out to the local night market for drinks and dinner. No surprise that the food is similar to Thai which we've both loved!

The next day we hired a scooter (we'd missed this in Bangkok) to rode to Kuang Si Falls, a well-known waterfall and arguably one of Laos' most popular attractions. The 45 minute ride along country roads surrounded by miles of farmland and jungle views was beautiful. Unfortunately we were unlucky enough to experience a 5 minute torrential downpour en route, but thankfully the sun came out soon after and dried us off by the time we arrived.

As a geography teacher, Jess has been looking forward to this for some time. Kuang Si Falls isn't just one waterfall, but a series of stepped waterfalls that we could walk along side following a jungle like path towards the top. Lets just say there was one very happy geographer, topped off by the beautiful sun shining on the many plunge pools glistening an amazing turquoise blue colour. It really was a tropical paradise! Wanting to explore more before taking a dip, we walked up to the top of the waterfall overlooking the mountains although the views were slightly obstructed by trees unfortunately. Once back at the bottom of the waterfall, we decided to take the plunge and after getting over the initial shock of the cool water, we enjoyed a swim and a climb on the rocks.

Heading back to Luang Prabang by scooter we enjoyed seeing more of rural Laos. This is one of the main reasons we've loved riding a scooter as it has given us the opportunity to see places beyond the main attractions. We saw so many rice fields with workers and people transporting food on their motorbikes as well as the occasional buffalo or cow on the road.

Similar to yesterday evening, we returned to the night market to try more local food and wandered the stalls. A brilliant first day exploring Laos!Read more