South East Asia Adventure | Luang Prabang trekking day 1

Kuang Xi waterfall, near Luang Prabang

Our favourite times were spent outdoors breathing fresh air and getting some exercise. We spent two days trekking outside Luang Prabang. The first was a short 4-hour trip through two side-by-side villages, one Khmu and one H’mong, where we picked up our “local” guide, and then carried on to the Kuang Xi waterfall.

The water cascades down the mountain again and again, like a tumbling gymnast. There is one pool after another of milky turquoise water, like Lake Louise in the summertime. Lunch was set in an open garden near the bottom; tour companies had set tables, some with wine glasses and table linens, all around this park (an outdoor cafe?), and  Ded and I (Margaret was sick) ate a great lunch including the best fresh spring rolls. These are what we call a salad roll, and here in Lao everything has a touch of Thai to it so the flavour of everything is really boosted with galangal and kaffir lime leaves. They were undoubtedly the best I’ve ever eaten, ordered from Tamnak Lao restaurant the day before and delivered onsite by our driver!

NO, that's not me!

 You can jump right in and cool off or warm up as the case may be, but no thanks. These crazy people are jumping from a tree into the fresh spring water.


I ended the afternoon with a visit to the bear sanctuary. They are Asian Black Bears, about the size of a grizzly without the grizzly hump. The sanctuary is dedicated to increasing the population, and although they are behind wire fencing, they were lots of fun to watch. Our guide told me that he likes to come here with his friends on a weekend to swim, read, play games, and have a picnic, so it's popular with the local people as well as with tourists. It's just a short drive out of town, even though it took us almost three hours to walk here!