Well good news... it seems the farther away you get from Communist party HQ, the better the roads get. While it was a long drive, we stayed on pavement for most of it with only the odd bit of construction. It was unfortunate that the smog continued so our views of the (beautiful and stunning) mountains wasn't optimal.
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| We really started to get worried about the roads when our driver got out to leave an offering at the local spirit house before taking on the mountains! |
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| No guard rails here! |
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| That infernal smog... (and stupid water spots in the camera) |
After about 5 hours of hills and moutains, we finally arrived in the quaint little village of Luang Prabang... the former capital.
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| Along the river |
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| There's the Mekong again. |
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| And the river taxis |
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| This is the main drag |
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| A nice spot for dinner to watch the sun set |
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| The first of many, many fruit shakes |
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| Sunset along the Mekong |
The next day, we hired a local Tuk Tuk for 200,000 Kip (about $25) to take us 35 kms out to Kuang Si Waterfalls. This is a multi-stage waterfall that was spectacular... and we know our waterfalls! To get there you go through an Asian Bear Rescue Centre that had seemingly dozens of them playing or lounging around in large caged in areas. They are quite a bit smaller than our brown bears and just as nosy. But we couldn't wait to see those falls so on we hiked!
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| One of the small ones at the bottom |
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| Oh... this looks interesting! |
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| Yup, it is! |
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| Big brother looking out for sis |
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| Who can look after herself! |
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| Dragging themselves in after hours of fun in the surprisingly cold water |
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| Some new friends they/we met. Feren and Eric (Father Rob and Mother Lois) from Victoria, BC. They are doing a 7 month sabbatical all in Asia. |
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| It just keeps getting prettier as you go up! |
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| See what I mean? |
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| The big waterfall is behind us... at least 250' |
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| Stunning |
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| The view from up top looking over the edge |
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| Our Tuk-Tuk |
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| Rachel's new Ray Ban's |
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| Dad's new Oakleys |
We loved that waterfall and then had dinner with the family from Victoria. It was good to share experiences with home schooling, travelling, etc with a similar family. This entry is getting long *on pictures at least) so I'll call it a night.
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Interesting...but prefer to see it from the comfort of home. I thought the Mekong was wider than that. Guess it will be as you go south. I googled your position...getting close to China away up there. When to you start boating ? Take care, Dad
ReplyDeleteThe Mekong is up towards the top... the rivers on the bottom pictures are tributaries. It's still fairly wide up in L.P. As brown as ever though! We intended to boat down the Mekong from L.P. to southern Laos but are feeling really squeezed for time so jumped a plane to Cambodia instead thinking we'd do a boat trip down from Siem Riep to Battambang and then into Phnom Phen but the water levels are too low right now so I guess we'll have to settle for the trip on the Mekong Delta.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pictures...that seemed like an amazing day! Keep the picts coming...so interesting!
ReplyDeleteMuch love,
Sarah, Rob and Jacob