Waterfalls around Luang Prabang

We hired a little scooter today to explore the areas surrounding Luang Prabang today. We were a hit apprehensive about renting a scooter at first after everything we had read about scams online. But in the end we paid the equivalent of 10 USD (half of what we had expect) and got ourselves a scooter for the day 🛵

Our first stop was at the Kuang Si waterfalls, along with a bear sanctuary. The bears were cute, but it is saddening to think about the torture they had to endure in their past -> wild bears are hunted and kept in cells where their biles are pierced so as to extract (“milk”) bile fluids from them which is then used in Chinese traditional medicine. It sounds insane and I wonder who would ever do that. But I guess there’s nothing people wouldn’t do if they think it makes them healthy.

The waterfalls themselves were truly beautiful. They impressed not so much by their height as by their intricacy. The water falls along multiple steps left and right and almost looks as if an outdoor artist sculpted them. We hiked a little to the top of the waterfall and then headed back home (having a nice late lunch on the way overlooking the Mekong river).

We spent the afternoon looking at a little photo art gallery in Luang Prabang, booking our cooking class for Monday and drinking coffee by the river. The Mekong is amazingly beautiful and it is nice to see how it seems very unregulated. We’re both already looking forward to our 2 day boat ride up the river :-)

Dinner was had at a great restaurant (Bouang), where we sat outdoor and overlooked a (semi) pedestrian zone. We wandered over the night market on the way back, trying out new hats 🎩 :-)Read more