Lazy Days in Luang Prabang

The guidebooks say that every day is like Sunday in Luang Prabang. After a couple lazy days here, we now understand what they mean. We woke up on Tuesday morning in a quiet town where palm trees wave in the wind and white clouds float over head while foreigners and locals alike cruise around on bicycles or sit resting in the shade. All the buildings have wooden shutters on the windows and have an Asian-European feel. It's hard to believe that we're in such a remote location.

The French considered Laos a colony during the days when every Western country wanted colonies. Our Austrian friend Weed Wacker says that France only kept Laos for the opium - which is probably true. French is the second language so all government signs are written in Lao and French. (Lucky for us English is the language of tourism.) The bakeries all sell baguettes and French bread so we've had some awesome sandwiches. We have had some more traditional Laos meals as well. They don't use chopsticks, but instead serve up sticky rice in little wicker baskets. You form a ball of rice and dip it in your food. It really is quite fun.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Kuangsi Waterfall with all of our new friends from the slow boat. Laura the Canadian was happy to not be the only Canadian in a group of English. We climbed into the back of a cab truck and motored down a gravel road for 29 kilometers. When we got off and walked the path, we saw the most stunning waterfall ever. It was a series of long tall cascades with three main tiers plunging through the rain forest with mountains all around. We stood open mouthed at the bottom before making our ascent up the slippery rocks to the top. The rain started to fall as we climbed, drenching us all, and making everything a little slipperier.

At the top, we could look out at the entire canyon and see orange robed monks playing in the pool near the top. Despite the rain, we joined them. Gregg enjoyed his first rock jumping experience and quickly plunged into the blue pool. It is so hard to describe. It was my most magical waterfall experience. We could lean over the edge of the pool and look way down at the cascades and pools below us. I could have stayed there forever.

We had dinner by the river and then joined the slow boat crowd at Le Tam Tam. En route, we were walking through the market when it started to rain. We knew it was raining before we felt it because all the vendors grabbed their wares off the ground and started running. Soon, we too were running in the rain. We arrived at Le Tam Tam a little wet. Tim, a Dutch guy, told Gregg stories about helping to clean up the Phi Phi islands after the Tsunami. Everyone was there - even Wolverine and the Austrians - and planned to participate in some karaoke. However, Gregg and I broke ourselves away from the group in favor of a more authentic Lao experience.

Muongswa by Night - the Laos disco. We were the only white people there. We entered through red padded doors into a dark room with disco lights and a live band that played the occasional English song like Suzie Q. Young and old danced together out on the floor with the flashing lights and blacklights. They seemed to love a dance where everyone walks in a circle rotating their wrists. I participated in Laos line dance. I got a few looks. When the band took a break, the place erupted into Laos techno dance party. The old people didn't sit down but kept grooving to the music. It was awesome and hilarious. I tried to dance with them, but I dance too fast. They operate at half the speed I do.

Today, we went to the Palace museum. A former residence of the kings from the 20th century has been made into a museum. We wandered through reception rooms and a throne room and peaked at some bedrooms. The throne room was ornate with a glass mosaic on the walls depicting Laos folk tales. The reception room housed gifts to Laos from other nations. The bedrooms were surprisingly simple with white walls and sparse furniture. After the museum, we hiked up the 329 steps to the top of Mt. Phousi in the middle of Luang Prabang. The wats aren't too interesting there, but the view of the Mekong to the west and the valley to the east was amazing. Palm trees and red roofs fill the basin up the green hills. We saw an old Russian anti-aircraft gun. Uncle Vic would have been fascinated. Afterwards, we rented bicycles and wandered around town. We've seen the sights here now so we have only one thing left to do: chill. That seems to be what most people do here.

We've been here long enough that we can now recognize when people are new off the boat. Time seems to stand still here. In a few hours, we'll board a "VIP" air con bus for Vang Vien. We'll see how "VIP" and how "Air Con" it is.