Kuang Si Falls

A colourful figure in Luang Prabang is Mr. Leng. You can't miss him, being 5 feet tall, very old and wearing some sort of boyscout uniform. He walks up to you and starts talking like a broken record. "Ex-cu-se-me. How are you to-day? Wel-come gen-tle-men. Live well and pros-per"

He gives you his businesscard (a piece of paper with his name written on it) and tells you about the things you can do around Luang Prabang. There are waterfalls and caves to be seen and he can provide the transportation.

We ask if we can do both today. That's not possible because - as he says it - "One day you go see waterfall, next day you go see cape". Alrighty then! We go see cape tomorrow. We hop on the jumbo and drive through some stunning countryside.

After an hour we arrive at the waterfalls and are immediately impressed by it. We decide to climb it...

The way up through the jungle is pretty steep and slippery. But once you get to the top you get the feeling you are the king of the world. The view of the valley and the waterfall is magnificent. The water is cool and very tempting. We dip in, very carefull at first. But later on we climb the trees that are hanging over the rim of the fall.

And, as you can see... we sat on the edge where the water cascades down. The whole experience provides for a natural high. This feeling is only enhanced by the little children who rush out to us when we drive through the villages. They wave and scream "sabaidee" ("hello"). At night we evaluate the day with a couple of Beerlao bottles at the "Indochina Spirit" restaurant.

This is a very relaxed place. A Marlon Brando wannabe sits at one table and constantly rubs his bald head like he is in "Apocalypse now". A German girl radiates when she tells us that today she decided that she's not going back home anymore.

It was all getting a bit to much. We celebrated the good life until the wee small hours. Completely smashed...