Kuang si waterfalls

Forgive my tardiness in writing. The guesthouse we are staying at in Chiang Mai, Thailand has a computer but it sits in a mosquito infested porch which despite copious bug repellant I remain eaten alive. Therefore, I am writing this from my phone in our bed. So, let me tell you about our last two days in Luang Prabang. The second to last day we decided to visit the famed waterfalls of kuang si. We met up with another traveller and took a tuk tuk through the untouched Laotian countryside to the waterfall site. After paying 20,000 kip (approx $3) we entered the jungle. First we came upon a bear sanctuary where a least 15 asiatic bears had been rescued and now live a life of hammocks and tire swings (not quite their habitat, but better than the alternative). 

From there, we journeyed on to the waterfall, enjoying the relative peace and quiet (we were there quite early, we had heard by 11am bus loads of tourists mob the place). We swam, photographed and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! 

           I'm climbing towards the rope 

Later that day, we garnered ourselves some bicycles and made our way to a silk and paper craft village (ban xieng lec). After witnessing the women on their looms and purchasing some silk we headed back. Since it's still considered the rainy season, the temporary bamboo bridges had not been installed over the river, so we had to take the motorbike bridge back across. Now mind you, we are on bicycles and there is only 1 lane in each direction. It was thrilling, to say the least and as we were nearing the end of the bridge we saw a western man squatting holding a video camera filming the action on the bridge. A witness to the chaos of that bridge. 

This is a view from the other side of the khan river before we crossed back over the bridge. 

The final day, we woke and did a second round observing the monks receiving their early morning alms. 

With heavy hearts we left Luang Prabang and headed for northern Thailand, Chiang Mai. Stay tuned. 

Some final pictures of the beloved Luang Prabang: 

             A street market delicacy 

                          Tuk-tuk 

                            Crabs