Holiday within a holiday – Luang Prabang

16 – 21 June 2011

Myself and Megan looking over Luang Prabang

Something seriously wrong with this dash

My cousin, Megan, has also made a wee stopover to join me in Luang Prabang on her way over to India for a motorbike trip so I have been able to hang out and do things with someone I know which has been awesome. 

I have done my first bit of touristy shopping in the markets and happy to have waited until the Luang Prabang night market to do so.   There is some cool stuff here.  Couple of lanterns and some paper paintings – they’re cool, you could totally redecorate a house at this market.  The post office, that was interesting trying to explain where New Zealand is to the lady there.  Surely you’d have some general knowledge – I even showed her on a map and she kept saying it was in Europe!!  Hope it makes it home!

Buffet alley 

So what have I/we done here?  I have been eating like 17 kids gone crazy in a free candy store (stomach has come back to normal and making up for the previous week) and the food here is fantastic.  The bowels have even decided to work properly again! yay! Buffet for $1.50, chicken baguettes galore, bakeries and flavour sensation restaurants.  Food heaven currently.  I have made friends with a local baguette lady – see remembered me after the third visit in two days.

Me and my sandwich lady

We have done a two day elephant mahout (elephant driver) course.  It was pretty funny booking this.  We booked the day before going and the guy said there is still space for us.  Show up in the morning and they tell us we are the only ones.  Classic.  Luckily I was not loner and had someone to go with!  We stayed in a mint as eco lodge/resort place and rode, bathed and tried to command the massive elephants – not sure if they really listened to us or just the trainer walking alongside…  Also did some tubing (float down a wee stretch of calm river in tubes) where a group of local kids (some naked, some with daks) playing in the mud swam over and commandeered my tube.  Kayaked down the Nam Kang river back to Luang Prabang to finish off the trip.  A great couple of days! 

Bathing

Naked mud throwing kid

Me, Megan and Tong (guide)

Weeeee!

Biked out to Kuangsi Waterfall.  A great way to do it. A bit under 2 hours there and 1½ on the way back.  Rope swing into the cool green/blue water – fantastic after sweating on the bikes out there.  First rope swing attempt I pulled in the rope with the perfectly shaped hook stick, lost my balance and just fell in.  Goober.  Then I lost the stick on the bottom of the waterfall pool.  Luckily found it after a few minutes of diving to find it.  What a moose.  Second attempt went for the big swing.  Hands slipped down the rope over the rope and cut one finger and bruised another – has been stiff for a few days now.  Total moose.  Third attempt I nailed it, I’m sooo cool.  Also got bitten by some yabbies.  Took me a while to realise I was getting bitten as I didn’t expect it so both my feet provided a nice snack for them for a while.

The Green Monster

Tried out a cooking classes and whipped up some amazing flavour infused dishes.  We’re pretty good cooks to be honest.  Got a recipe book to take away so I’ll be attempting to make some local dishes when I get home.

Gourmet cooking

We woke up way too early this morning (21^st) to see and be a nosey tourist watch the Monks walk the streets taking offerings from everyone.  Well we were quickly approached given fruit, sticky rice and biscuits, wrapped in a sash and took a seat of the side of the road to be the offerers!  Along come the Monks, they open up their pot thing and in go the goodies – like a prearranged trickle treat.  You have to be fast though I missed a few and got denied but a couple others – maybe they were sick of sticky rice?  All over and done with by 6:30am.  The ladies that gave us the food for the offerings then asked for money.  Fair enough I was happy to give them something for us to experience and partake in it but they were asking for 350,000kip!!!  That’s what you would pay for a 6 star hotel room here.  No way.  We left them 10,000 each and walked away and left them to argue over who gets the money.  I didn’t even really get the chance to take any photos!

Pak Ou Cave

Jumped on a slow boat ½ day tour up the Mekong to the Whisky Village and Pak Ou Cave.   Whisjky Village I just tied the rice wine and 15% whisky not the 50% stuff, think I’ve already had a fair share of that stuff along the way.  The cave, ok, but I was a bit disappointed with it as it was more deep hollow in the hill..The caves in Vang Vieng were more exciting.  The boat was pretty cool and just cruising up the Mekong.  I now wish I had made it to Chang Mai crossed into Northern Laos and taken a two day slow boat trip to Luang Prabang.  Another time…

Also had a good bit of lazy time in between but the bike is starting to call again and the legs (and belly) want to get riding again.