Very early start this morning - 6 am brekkie for 6:30 departure to catch an 8am train. We are heading to the beautiful UNESCO city of Luang Prabang, Laos for 2 days. We travelled business class which was very comfortable and we had our fingers crossed that this same train D88 will take us to Kunming, China in a few days’ time. It was a delightful journey through lush jungle and past limestone monoliths once part of the sea floor.
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| Very comfortable train |
After we arrived in Luang Prabang and were collected by our delightful local guide, we drove through lush forests including many teak trees to the Ok Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre. A reviving tranquil place set in lush gardens on the banks of the Mekong. Here women cultivate silk worms, spin and weave and paint textiles - they produce and use silk, cotton, hemp, and another plant fibres, which I can’t recall. It is a delightful place of happy industry. I bought a few little trinkets then sat with a honey, lemongrass and ginger tea gazing out over the Mekong - it was a place to dwell. This haven is located a couple of kilometres outside of Luang Prabang city which is a smaller than Vientiane and has a gentler feel.
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| Ok Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre |
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| R: a large basket of silkworms feeding on mulberry leaves; C: silk cocoons; L: hanks of spun silk |
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| This child was content to play under the loom his mother was working |
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| The fibres and yarns they produce here are coloured with natural dyes |
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| Exquisite batik fabric being created - the detail intricate |
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| The Mighty Mekong - we all could have lingered longer |
We then were off to visit the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls 30km south of Luang Prabang. Quite a magnificent roaring drenching avalanche of water sending clouds of spray across everything and everyone. Some chose to walk up to the falls along the river and visit the bear rescue centre operated by the organisation 'Free the Bears'. The organisarion primarily rescues and houses Asiatic Black Bears (Moon bears) and Malayan Sun Bears. These bears are saved from the illegal wildlife trade and bile farms - an horrendous practice. Others, like me, took the easy way (up hill!) and caught a buggy that whisked us away from the ubiquitous markets surrounding the entrance to the falls. What magnificent scenery! Multiple photos later, we wandered down river to round out our visit with a delicious lunch overlooking the falls.
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| It all revolves around food |
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| BBQed chook! |
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| Deers are symbolic of this park |
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| Asiatic Black Bear (also known as Moon bears) |
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| All froth and bubble and megawatts of enery |
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| Everything was rather sodden from the spray |
Let me tell you just one of the local legends surrounding the Falls. According to this one "
the Kuang Si Falls were formed when a wise old man revealed the waters of the Nam Si by digging deep into the earth. After the waters came to Kuang Si a beautiful golden deer made its home under a big rock that protruded from the falls. The sound of the water falling on this rock created an enchanting echo that drew people to the waterfall from as far away as China." Some say that Tat Kuang Si gets its name from this legend. 'Tat' meaning waterfall, 'Kuang', meaning deer and ‘Si’ meaning 'dig' but I heard others. All quite enchanting.
Our first day around Luang Prabang finished with dinner at a local restaurant enjoying the entertainment provided by dancers from a number of different local ethnic groups (this performance had been arranged for a group of rowdy Chinese businesmen - we were simply hitchhikers!).
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| Delightful ethnic dancers - Laos officially recognises 49 ethnic groups and over 160 subgroups |
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