Laos, Part 2
Day 41, February 7
We slept in today since we had an early day yesterday. Our hostel was serving breakfast until 10am so we had to quickly go down there before they closed up. I was pretty surprised at what they served. You had an option between eggs any style and pancakes.
After breakfast we went back up to our room and were just slowly getting ready for the day not too sure what we were going to do. Then the guy from Seattle that moved up with us after the snoring incident suggested we all pool our money (us 2 and Dan from yesterday) together to get a good deal on a tuk-tuk to take us to the Kuang Si Waterfall. He was saying if we went with a tour that you only get 2 hours there and we all knew we’d probably spend half a day if not more there.
So we quickly threw on our bathing suits and headed out. We got a tuk-tuk to take us and spend 5 hours there for 160,000 kip which is roughly $5 per person.
The tuk-tuk we climbed aboard was slightly different from the ones in Cambodia and Vietnam. It’s an actual truck where you ride in the back of the cab with wooden slats up the sides. They have the motor bike ones as well but for longer treks, the truck one is more common. It was a beautiful 45 minute drive out to the waterfall in the open air.
Once we arrived, we all grabbed a little snack and bought our ticket to enter. Our first stop once inside the area was the Bear Sanctuary. The sanctuary houses Moon Bears that are native to Asia. We learned that they are critically endangered bears that are harvested for their bile in Vietnam. It was really sad to see the living conditions of the bears that are captured and tortured for their bile.
After we visited the bears it was on to the waterfall. There are 3 layers to the waterfall that start with a few shallow pools that you can swim in. We chose to take some pictures but to keep trekking up towards the top.
It was hard not to stop every few steps to take pictures because it was astonishingly picture perfect. There is a high level of calcium carbonate deposits in the water which when reflected by the light, gives the water the rich blue-green color. I’ll let the pictures show you just how beautiful it is.
After soaking in all the beauty from the bottom we decided to hike up to the top. We went to the right and ended up borderline rock climbing all the way up to the top. The guys pulled to the side to go to a secret waterfall but I thought they were just catching their breath so I kept going. My sister and I made it to the top and waited for the guys but they never came so we continued on.
We took some pictures up at the top and then decided to go explore a little more. We saw a sign for a cave so we started out on the 3km trail. It felt so long walking there because we weren’t tracking how far we had gone.
View from the top
Once we finally got there we saw a little table set up with snacks and drinks for sale and a local family off to the side that was running it. They had Eagles playing when we walked up which was very fitting. Anytime you are in a paradise type place it is always appropriate to have Eagles playing. We grabbed a snack and sat next to the water and had a wonderfully peaceful break.
The family there was so laid back and very friendly. You could tell by their interactions with people that they really love what they do. There was small log connecting the 2 sides and one of the guys that worked there said he would give anyone a free beer if they could walk there and back without falling in. Then he jumped up on the log and put a beer on his head and balanced it the whole way across and back. It was pretty amazing to witness.
We went over to the cave area but decided not to go in because it cost 10,000 kip and I was pretty sure it was just a bunch of Buddha figurines. I wanted to save my money to go back to the lookout place we went to last night and go into the cave that was there.
So we decided to head back to try and find the guys. We weren’t on the trail more than ten minutes and we ran into them headed to where we were just coming from. They told us how to get to the secret waterfall and we told them what was up ahead.
When we got back to the top of the waterfall we decided to go down the other side since we had heard it was much easier. I did not want to attempt the other side down because it was really, really steep. By this time my knee was killing me so I decided to hang back and give the GoPro to my sister so she could go check out the secret waterfall.
I hung out at a little coffee place and met 2 older British women. They saw I was sitting there alone so they invited me to join them which I happily accepted. Just as I was getting into conversation with them, my sister came over with a doggie friend. After she had finished the secret waterfall she walked past the coffee shop and continued out the front gate because she thought I’d be out there. When she realized I wasn’t there she turned around to come back in and this dog started to follow her. The dog followed her all the way back to where I was at the coffee shop.
We started heading out and then ran into the guys. It was getting really close to 5 hours so we had to head for the exit. We all grabbed a snack for the ride back and said goodbye to our new dog friend. The dog waited until we were in the tuk-tuk and driving away before she turned around to go back to the entrance area.
The ride back was equally as beautiful as the ride there. We talked more with the guys and learned that Mike, the guy from Seattle now living in Thailand, is a very well traveled, incredibly intelligent guy with 2 masters. He has lived in many different countries doing human rights work. Some of the stories he told seemed like it was the plot of a movie he was telling. And we found out that Dan is a fish technician.
We were all joking that Mike is off saving the world and learning new languages and Dan is playing with fish, while my sister is making ads for Frito Lays and I’m working on dance shows. It was very interesting and intimidating talking to Mike.
We got back to the hostel and immediately headed to dinner. Since we all 4 got along really well we decided to all do dinner together. Mike was telling us about this Laotian dish that called or lam that is kind of like a stew with a bunch of vegetables and meat in it. He took us to the same restaurant overlooking the Mekong River where he first had the dish
We all got the same dish with different meat variations. We also got the fried morning glory and fried river weeds. The morning glory tasted like sautéed spinach and the river weeds was like those seaweed papers you can buy at Trader Joe’s only much, much better because they were fresh and had sesame seeds on them.
River Weed
After dinner Dan wanted to go to a coffee shop and I was wanting dessert. We went to this cafe called Indigo Cafe that had decent wifi and good coffee. I got the sticky mango rice. I had been seeing it on a lot of the menus so I decided to try it. It was very sweet, like borderline pure sugar, but really good.
Then it was back to the hostel to shower off all the dirt from today. I fell asleep pretty quickly because I was so worn out from all the hiking at the waterfall.
Day 42, February 8
We didn’t have anything major planned for today so I decided to use today to relax and catch up on the blogging since I haven’t had reliable internet since being in Laos. After eating breakfast at the hostel my sister and I went to Indigo Cafe since we knew they had working internet and shortly after Dan and Mike joined us.
I got the Lao coffee which, to me, seemed exactly like the Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk at the bottom. It was good but a bit overpriced. I could have found it cheaper at another restaurant but I wasn’t sure if other places would have good wifi.
We all sat here until about 2ish and then Mike left and then my sister and I left to go get food that was cheaper. Dan was going to hang out there a bit longer before it was time for him to head to the airport.
My sister and I went back over to the Mekong River area where a lot of the restaurants are and I got another Laotian dish. This time it was pork with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, garlic and mushrooms dish. There was no official name for it on the menu.
After lunch I headed back to Indigo Cafe and my sister went back to the hostel to lay out by the pool. I felt like I had to order a drink to be able to use their wifi so I got the iced matcha green tea. I was expecting it to come with ice but instead it came out looking like a frappe.
I sat in the cafe trading off with a guy to watch each other’s stuff while the other used to the restroom. I worked on my computer all afternoon and well into the evening until my sister met back up with me for dinner.
Dan had told us about a place where you can BBQ your own meats and veggies. So we decided to give it a go. It was really overwhelming when you first walk up because we had no idea what to do. There are people everywhere pushing to get in line for food and running around looking for a table. It felt very chaotic.
We found a table down overlooking the Mekong River, a little out of the main crowd’s way. Then we both went up to the buffet line and loaded up our plates with veggies and meats. Nothing was marked so I had no idea what had seafood in it and what didn’t. I was just grabbing spring rolls and dim sum hoping there wasn’t any fish. They did have chicken wings so I loaded up on those, as well.
Then we got back over to the table and the guy lit our grill and poured the grease into the side to fry things. Without knowing what to do we just started throwing things on to cook. Once the grease heated up I was throwing tofu, glass noodles, veggies and a bunch of other things in to fry.
Hard at work
It was a really fun experience but man oh man I was incredibly full afterwards. We thought that the we were going to be charged for the food that was left over so we were both doing everything we could to eat it all. Then when we got the check we realized they didn’t charge for food leftover. Oh well, we were living up our last night in Laos in style!
After dinner we headed towards the night market to look one last time at what the vendors had laid out.
We stopped for crepe pancake desserts. I got the banana chocolate one thinking it’d be a crepe because that’s what the menu said but it came out as a straight up pancake.
Then it was time to head back to the hostel to try and figure out how to get our visa for Myanmar since we were leaving tomorrow and you cannot get it on arrival like some of the other countries.
After trying for a hours, I finally got the visa application to go through for both of us. We went to sleep that night praying we’d wake up to an email saying the visa was granted.
Tomorrow we head for Myanmar!
Momma Payne
February 10, 2017
The waterfalls are beautiful. It all looks like so much fun. You are meeting a lot of interesting people. Is Myanmar your last stop? Will you be staying there until you head home? Enjoy your last few weeks.
Don Hostler
February 28, 2017
Looks like a great time! Can’t wait to hear about it when I see you.