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So after an eventful trip across into Laos, I have arrived safely and am loving it. I have been here for 3 days now. compared to Vietnam it's much more friendly, and laid back, but significantly poorer.
I took the bus to Luang Prabang yesterday- yes bus not bike. It's a great place in the hills, on the banks of the Mekong river. It's a world heritage site apparently. Small winding streets and amazing looking restaurants everywhere. It's quite pricey tho- well in relative terms- my room is £5 per night!
I was woken up early by the call to prayer drum being beaten at the temple across the street from my guesthouse, about 5am. With no change of going back to sleep I decided I'd go for a Dawn cycle. I waited until it got light 6.30ish then headed off to a waterfall about 30k from the town. The ride was gently undulating through rice paddies and rain forest, my legs were thankful for a ride without all the extra luggage, the 60k felt like a dream!! It was amazing to see rural Laos waking up. The sun rose over the massive mountains, with the mist clearing to reveal the herds of buffaloes munching on the grass and drinking from the Mekong. I arrived at the waterfalls about 8.30, it was magical. I had the place to myself. The waterfalls have been turned into a tourist attraction by a foreign aid project, there was a series of small turquoise pools all cascading down the mountain side, and a very spectacular massive waterfall at the top, again tumbling into a deep minty green cauldron.
I spent the afternoon trying to get my bike fixed. About 10k in on my very first day in Vietnam it developed a clicking sound coming from what I call the bottom bracket ( unsure if that's its actual name). This has been getting gradually worse over the past few days, I met up with a family of cyclists (mum, dad, and2 kids all on bikes for 6months- totally amazing- one day when I grow up that's what my family will do!) they recommended a bike shop here in luang prabang that has the tools and skills to fix it. Anyway noone seems to be able/ willing to fix it at any of the places I've been to here. Only means I will be getting the bus to vang vieng, making the ride to Vientiane shorter and (slightly) less hilly.
The following day, again woken up at 5.am a Dawn walk up to a temple at the top of a hill to watch the sun rise- magical. The temple was very colourful with many gold guilded buddha's standing around, all very impressive.
Later in the afternoon bikey and I went to see some elephants about 7k out of town down a dusty muddy track. They were elephanty... Not really much comparison to the wild elephants I saw in south Africa.
- comments
kat it looks amazing lau!
Kay Sounds incredible!! x
Dominic Key Sounds wonderful.... so jealous! Glad to hear you'll be back for the wedding.