We woke up in a comfortable bed this morning, still tired from the night before. We knew it was going to be a great day with plenty of activities. We firstly went to the Laos Royal Palace. We learned that Luang Prabang got its name from a statue of a Buddha, and that this Buddha was moved from Sri Lanka to Lao around four hundred years ago. Luang Prabang was the capital city of Lao from 1902 to 1962. The Royal Palace had a museum where we learnt about the royal family and his collection of cool old cars. We saw many different statues of Buddha; people used different materials to build those statues such as gold, crystal, wood and bronze.
We further extended our knowledge of Luang Prabang by a popular mode of transport in Laos: cycling. By actually experiencing the conditions of the streets for ourselves, which were extremely bumpy, we felt the stressful conditions. It felt intimidating, particularly at the roundabouts, with motorcycles and cars and bikes all sharing the same length of road of our bikes. The road rules in Laos are completely different to Australia’s. They drive on the right side of road and cut offs are expected and common. We stopped at a local paper production company which uses sustainable practices to make its paper from tree pulp, and then headed off onto the roads again. Under the scorching heat we saw beautiful sights capturing the beauty of the city including the sun glistening on the Mekong River, the shades of gold of the temples and a view of the highly dense vegetation on the mountains.
After a quick lunch we tried a cuisine other than our own, such as eggs wrapped in pig intestine. We then went to the spectacular Kuang Si waterfall which has got to be one of the most beautiful parts of nature we have ever seen. The cooling water had many shades of pastel blue, colliding with the harsh pressure of white water splashing from 150 meters above. The weather treated us, with rays of sun finding their way through the green tree cover. The sounds of thumping water left me feeling relaxed and calmed by the scenic views and beauty Laos had to offer.
After the relaxing waterfalls we went to the vibrant night life of Laos with buzzing local stores of handmade Laotian materials, consisting of Laos hill tribe fabrics to recycled bomb materials from the Vietnam war. We engaged with locals with friendly bartering and further developed our bargaining skills. At first the conversion between Australia and Laos currencies was confusing and to be honest, we still don’t get it! After a social and successful night we came home to many purchases.
We are excited for what tomorrow brings with elephant rides and a Great Race!
Cleo D and Michael A
