Day 12 – Among the Waterfalls
My last day in Luang Prabang. I’m already sad just writing
that. I only came to Laos because the middle of Vietnam (e.g. Hoi An, Hue,
Danang, etc.) are in their rainy period and there is threat of monsoon.
Probably I got overspooked, but just like years ago when I was too spooked to
go to Egypt and went to Cape Town instead, this ended up being a great
decision.
Luang Prabang is a fantastic little town – in the end I
probably could have spent 1-2 more days just soaking in its brilliance. In the
end, I did save the best – most famous, at the very least – attraction for
last. The most talked about tourist stop are the Koung Si Waterfalls. When you
walk around the town, tuk-tuk drivers will call out ‘waterfall?’ to you. They
know, and we know. It is a great spot, and you need to go there. I had already
been to a beautiful series of waterfalls and pools just yesterday, and I was so
ready to go back for more.
First I stopped by Saffron for a coffee (ended up having
two), a bit of scenic viewing of the Mekong, and a banana, lime and coconut
French Toast. To be honest, the dish sounded better on paper than it ended up
tasting, but I’ll give them credit for their inventiveness. Saffron is a
quality place from the coffee side however, and was glad to get my fill before
a potentially long day (for a preview: it will be fun to be in Hanoi by days’
end, a place that may stay open past its 11:30pm curfew).
I took a tuk-tuk for the standard rate of 200k Kip there and
back (this is basically the advertised rate), and endured a 50-minute drive
through Laos. This one was not as great as the drives to the Pak Ou caves or
the Elephant Village. It was longer, and didn’t hug a river and instead went
through some farm-land and open greenery.
Once you do reach, it is a bit confusing to know where to
go, but after walking past a few restaurants that were basically setting up for
the mad lunch rush (it was about 10am), I went through its main gate and
entered the Kuang Si Waterfall complex. There is one trail taking you about 10
minutes from the entrance gate to the main set of waterfalls – similar in
structure to the Tad Dae ones yesterday, but bigger, more numerous and more
beautiful.
The first part however was a nice surprise, as before you
can reach any waterfall or pond, you have to go through the Kuang Si Bear
Rescue Center – a few open air cages with Loatian Asiatic Black or Moon bears
that have been rescued. I had listed this as a place to see, but to be honest
had forgotten about it so it was great to see it back. The person running the
center was a lady from UK who gave us all a preview of their names, ages, etc.,
calling out to a few to get off their trees and treehouses and playgrounds and
move closer to the fence. They were cute, cuddly and all, and it was a nice
little bit of nature before the real bit of nature.
It is hard to really describe the Kuang Si waterfalls, other
than the further you go up, the better it gets. The initial pools are like the
ones at the Tad Dae Waterfalls, but bigger and more blue. Initially, the
cascading series of rocks that mark off one level to the other aren’t as
visible, but here the pools careen in and around different trees, streams, etc.
The next set was quite similar, with a wooden bridge through the middle to get
some photos, and the first area where people were swimming. I made a mental
note to return, but continued upwards, past a few thinner ponds and levels
before you reach the grand finale.
The top leve of the walking path ends up with a pool with a
giant series of cascaiding waterfalls behind in extending upwards a good 20 or
30 metres, and further series of waterfalls less visible in the distance. It is
a truly brilliant sight, with the pure turquoise lake in front (no one is
allowed to swim in it – not sure if this is just to preserve the amazing view)
and the waterfalls behind it and the lush jungle around it.
This was about as nice a picture spot or even ‘just gaze
with your eyes in open amazement’ spot as I’ve been to – certainly the best
waterfall or jungle spot I’ve been to. At this point, I just felt so content
and glad I made it to Laos, I made this a critical place to go to, and, most of
all, never looked at a photograph ahead of time. Ironically, the one site that
listed this as one of the key travel stops included a photo further down the waterfall
pools (i.e. closer to the entrance) which while still beautiful wasn’t anything
close to what this is.
After soaking in this area for god knows who long, I
descended back towards the swimamble pools. There are two main ones used for
swimming and photo taking (I am so mad at myself for not getting a waterproof
phone case or bag). The first one is closer to the final pond, which is a bit
smaller, more shaded. Instead of using that, because it didn’t have as easily
accessible rocks to stand under and have the water fall on your head, I tried
to acrobatically go to a smaller sub-pond on the level below it. I was
something of a trailblazer of the day, as it was empty and got quite a few
people to join me afterwards.
The water temperature was similar to yesterdays, but the
strength of the waterfalls was far, far stronger. I couldn’t even swim towards
it at this level, it being a small area and a very powerful stream. A few of us
tries and none were able to make it all the way. I didn’t even think to risk
trying to get a shot with my phone.
I did go to the second main area, which is a giant pool with
a series of rocks at the end where people were taking photos and also just
sitting there and letting water fall on them. It was a fairly weaker strength
so you could swim right up to them, stand under them, go behind them if there
was a little cove. The water is deep at times, but overall this was just a
tremendous experience. Take any pl ace in the Caribbean and add 50% more beauty
and 50% more remoteness. I never wanted to leave.
The walk back was tough. This was the last bit of tourism I
would do in Luang Prabang. It was tough because I think I gave myself too much
time (my flight to Hanoi is only at 7pm) and because I just didn’t want to
leave. Again, from a tourism value there’s only probably another day’s worth of
things I could do. But if there ever is somewhere just to lounge around a bit,
this would have been one place.
After returning to town, I headed to Tangor for lunch. I may
be playing this palce up, and it doesn’t have ‘authentic Lao food’, but the
food and presentation is tremendous, the atmosphere is great, and you can
interact with pretty interesting people. I got the same main of the penang
curry duck breast (just as good the second time around) and a different
appetizer of a Lao fried spring roll with chicken, galangal and lime. Even
after three days and countless meals, I still have no real way of describing
accurately what Lao food is, but it is very, very good.
After lunch, I got a quick haircut at a quite sharp
barbershop. A few people came by to get haircuts during this time, all of them
more fancy and fashion forward than your dear old writer. After, I had an extra
hour to kill (the shave at the barbershop took forever – I take it they aren’t
used to people with as much facial hair as I did after +/- three weeks of not
shaving), I went to Bell Rive Terrace, which overlooks the Mekong. The set-up
was great, with fans for each table, great shared from large palm trees +
umbrellas. All of it was great, to the point I got myself even more sad that I
have to leave before the sunsets.
It’s amazing that on a day I only did one touristy thing of
note that this entry is going to me maybe my longest so far. The flight to
Hanoi was nice and easy, though again full of repressed despair for having to
leave. Somehow the flight took off and nearly landed before the scheduled
departure time. This is good because Hanoi is massive (at least the airport is
far from the city) and even despite arriving very early I still was only able
to check in to my hotel and leave for dinner around 9pm.
Hanoi is a large city, and maybe my opinion will change when
I return for a more extended stay, but for the first night it was overly hot
and crowded. That said, I went to dinner at Highway4 – a Hanoi chain serving
well regarded Vietnamese food, and the dinner was quite good. I got three small
plates, first a catfish springroll (at this point I was a bit surprised not to
have seen Catfish on more menus here), then a fried barracuda, which was really
clean and fresh, and finally a fried pork with galangal salad, which was
excellent.
My time in Hanoi after dinner wasn’t as pleasant. Admittedly,
I was squarely in the heavy touristy area of the Old Town. This area has a lot
of backpacker hostels, which bring out some charm in terms of nostalgia, but
given I was upgraded to the Ambassador Suite at the Sheraton, it wasn’t like I would
trade places with them. Most of the restaurants I had shortlisted were in the
old town, but few of the bars or nightlife areas. I did go to one bar which
despite fans was frighteningly hot (it was semi-open, but the street was
arguably even more humid). After I went to Factory 47, a mixed bar/lounge which
had a nice DJ and environment, but just wasn’t the same as Ho Chi Minh. Again,
I may be being overly tough on Hanoi, but I was shocked by how early everything
closed up. Here I’m talking about restaurants and road-side Pho spots like the
ones that were all over Ho Chi Minh. The driver had to go around a lot to find
a banh mi cart, but there is a chance I was being taken for a ride.
Overall, Luang Prabang was amazing, and while it was nice to
be in a city again, to not have to deal with an 11:30pm curfew (or a bowling
alley, which I never ended up going to sadly), Hanoi didn’t get the best start.
There’s a lot of time, and the food was still very good, but I was not
expecting that level of heat and humidity. Hopefully things are a bit calmer
come Friday and Saturday.
