Waterfall

  Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
April 09, 2009

Bill had pancakes and I had fried eggs today.

We went to an internet cafe for the rest of the morning. At 12:30 we went to Tamarind for lunch. I would really like to have stuffed lemon grass again and of course they will have it there.

I ordered BBQ cured pork (Ping Som Moo) in lemon grass with iced Jujube (Nam Mak Tan). The juice is a plum fruit with coconut. Bill ordered white house wine and Five Bites: Sai Oua (Luang Prabang sausage), Sinh Savanh (dried buffalo meat), Som Pak Gat (leafy green pickled vegetable, Jeow Nor Mai Som (pickled bamboo with ginger and spice) and Miang parcels (1 was dried sticky rice crackers, peanuts and lemon grass, 1 was eggplant paste, noodles, veggies and coriander in lettuce wrapping). I am also interested in the iced smoked black tea with lime, but did not order it. The food and drink were very good!

I read here that the proper way to eat sticky rice is to take a handful from the bamboo basket and then take a smaller portion from your other hand. You then roll a small amount and use it as a spoon in other dishes. Do not lick your fingers, double dip or leave rice on your fingers or in the food.

We went to the tour office at 1:30 and got on an overcrowded minivan to the waterfall. There were 4 girls in the last row where there should have only been 3. Bill had to sit in the jump seat behind the driver. The ride there made us both a bit queasy, I felt sick because Bill was feeling sick. Good thing it was only a 1/2 hour. I had the pleasure of sitting by a large Chinese woman with scratchy pants that rubbed against my leg the whole way there.

The waterfall was spelled 3 different ways on 3 different signs at the entrance - Kounang Si, Kwangsi and Kuangsi. Just inside the park there was a Asiatic Bear display. They are very small bears. They are dark and have a yellowish V-Neck. These bears are endangered because people think that they have medicinal uses. They take the bile from their gall bladders, claws, feet and blood.

We continued up the road to the waterfall. We took some pictures from the bottom and then took a steep, rocky path up to the top. We were able to walk across the top of the waterfall in a spot where we had not been able to see from the ground. It was a beautiful view and a unique experience. We walked down on the other side and it was not as steep and more of a path. It even had some stairs!

We took some more pictures at the bottom and then followed the path to 2 swimming spots. The first one did not look very good. The second one was more crowded and people were jumping in the water off a rope and a small waterfall. I waded in and swam for a bit to cool down. Bill went to the waterfall and jumped in a couple of times. While we were there a Swiss guy did not jump out far enough and smacked his head pretty good. He was OK, but it was going to leave a nasty scar. Bill gave him some of our gauze for it.

We saw the bears again on the way out. Most of them were sleeping, a few were eating.

We had a chicken baguette, a pineapple shake, a Coke and a Sprite just outside the park while waiting for our 5 pm departure time. 

We had the crowded ride back to town. I tried to secure the front for Bill so he would not feel sick again, but he refused and had to squish in with a guy in the second row while I rode in the front.

Bill went to take some sunset pictures and I went to secure a movie at Lao Lao Bar. I had three selections: Three Kings, 007, Tomorrow Never Dies and Syriana. The first two movies did not work, so we were trying Syriana, but they finally were able to get James Bond to work.

We enjoyed the movie while having a buffalo burger with fries, a Luang Prabang salad, Lychee Like Me (lychee juice and lao lao) and BeerLao. I ended up having 4 drinks because it was buy 1 get 1 free! Good thing I had lots of water too.

After 007, they started to play Syriana, but I was falling asleep, so Bill dragged me back to the room.