Luang Prabang is quit cosy little town situated by the river Mekong and surrounded by beautiful hills. It is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site which may partly explain the unprecedented cleanness and purity in this place :-p Morning and night markets are happening in small narrow streets so you are almost seating in a pot with cooked meal π The weather (in December) is tricky, during the day the temperature goes up to 30Β°, but at night it is even less than 15Β°. So sleeping outside would not be such fun… To see the whole town, the best is to climb up the Mount Phousi, located just in the centre, which is very worthy, especially for the sunset, even for that 2.5 dollars fee and thousands of tourists.
There are few one day trips you can do in the surroundings. One day we went to see Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Waterfall. We rent a “songthaew” for seven people, so the prize for whole trip was 4.2 dollars per person. The caves are ok, but if you were in Slovenian caves or even in Macocha in the Czech Republic, you would not be so excited. Someone (not mentioning…) would say it was total bullshit π At least the scenery around is very nice. But be prepared you pay for everything, the boat, the entrance… we are just waiting when they ask for the air breathing fee π On the other hand, the Kuang Si Waterfalls are absulutely stunning, I probably havent seen better. The water has amazing blue colour and you can even swim there or jump from the tree. Probably the top of all Laos!
Next day we crossed the river by ferry to the other side, the Chompheth district. This site is totally undeveloped compared to Luang Prabang city, like completely another world. There are just local dirt roads connecting very small villages with woden houses. Local people seem kind and do not want anything from you π The most common way of transport is by motorbike, which are even driven by little girls like seven years old π Even though we did not see anything special, to walk in this area was nice and calm, expect the very lively Lao wedding π Just to be oriented here is little bit a problem, you do not have a chance to find these local roads even on google maps…
Luang Prabang je male prijemne mestecko lezici u reky Mekong a obklopene krasnymi kopci. Patri cele do ochrany UNESCO, coz mozna vysvetluje tu nebyvalou cistotu :-p Ranni a nocni trhy se odehravaji v malych ulickach, takze se skoro posadite do hrnce s jidlem π Pocasi (v prosinci) je tu trochu vykyvove, behem dne je skoro 30Β°, ale v noci sotva 15Β°. Takze spat na ulici by asi nebyla moc sranda.. Nejlepsi vyhled na mesto je z hory Phousi, velmi prekrasny, hlavne pri zapadu slunce, i pres ty 2.5 dolaru pozadovane jen za vystup a hromadu turistu.
V okoli mesta je mozne udelat nekolik jednodennich vyletu. My jsme si v 7 lidech pronajali “songthaew” na cely den a jeli se podivat na jeskyne Pak Ou a vodopad Kuang Si. V tomto poctu vysla cesta asi na 4.2 dolaru (35.000 kip) na jednoho. Jeskyne byla celkem ok, ale kdo byl treba ve Slovinskych jeskynich nebo na Macose v CR, sotva bude skakat nadsenim. Nekdo by i rekl (nebudu jmenovat…), ze to byla totalni blbost π Alespon okoli bylo moc pekne. Je potreba pocitat, ze se plati za vsechno, za prejezd po lodce, za vstup… cekame, kdy se zacne vybirat poplatek za vzduch, co dychame π Druha destinace, vodopady Kuang Si byly naprosto uzasne, asi jsme nevideli lepsi. Voda je krasne modra a lze si zde i zaplavat nebo skocit s padleho kmene. Nejspise topovka celeho Laosu!
Druhy den jsme prejeli privozem na druhou stranu reky do Chompheth oblasti. S porovnanim s Luang Prabang je tato cast uplne zaostala, jako jiny svet. Jsou zde jen prasne cesty, ktere spojuji velmi male vesnicky s drevenymi domky. Mistni vypadaji moc mile a nic po vas nechteji π Vsichni tu jezdi na skutru a to i male sedmilete holcicky. Prestoze jsme nevideli nic specialniho, prochazka po okoli byla prijemna a klidna, az tedy na bujarou mistni svatbu π Ovsem vyznat se v mistnich cestach je celkem orisek, jelikoz je nenajdete ani na google mapach…
The blue lake is famous! I will swimming here to! But now I cann this only ve vanΔ….
Have a nice night. I am at home, in Saaz. By,by
waterfalls are amazing, especially photo with sun shining through trees could win some competition