It was Saturday 11/30, and we had to be at the travel agency at 8:30 to begin the trek. We start with a well-balanced breakfast. Travis decided to try the porridge that the locals eat, even though it sounded a bit terrible, just to get a sense for the real low I guess. It was okay, and had mushrooms and onions and a savory flavor but didn't hold a candle to an omelette or croissant. But the coffee, baguettes and homemade jams (mango and pineapple) were amazing.
We are the first ones at the travel agency but in a few moments our hiking companions begin to show up. They are dressed appropriately for the rain and cold weather with coats and such, while Travis and Nicole were in shorts. The ride up to the hills took about 45 min and was FREEEZING. We were happy to stop moving so the wind cut down! On the way, we got to know our companions--2 girls from Edmonton, Canada three Swiss, and a Thai girl who's the GF of one of the Swiss guys.
The calm before the storm: These guys come grab us in their thin little boats, and Nicole astutely pointed out the ease with which they could capsize. There were 6 of us in each boat, and they pushed us across slowly with giant bamboo poles like a Venetian gondola driver...sans the opera singing. We get to the other side where we are greeted by adorable little kids and we begin our trek into the jungle.
We are the first ones at the travel agency but in a few moments our hiking companions begin to show up. They are dressed appropriately for the rain and cold weather with coats and such, while Travis and Nicole were in shorts. The ride up to the hills took about 45 min and was FREEEZING. We were happy to stop moving so the wind cut down! On the way, we got to know our companions--2 girls from Edmonton, Canada three Swiss, and a Thai girl who's the GF of one of the Swiss guys.
The calm before the storm: These guys come grab us in their thin little boats, and Nicole astutely pointed out the ease with which they could capsize. There were 6 of us in each boat, and they pushed us across slowly with giant bamboo poles like a Venetian gondola driver...sans the opera singing. We get to the other side where we are greeted by adorable little kids and we begin our trek into the jungle.
The Villages: During the hike, we pass through a few villages. Our guides explain that Loas is made up of three tribes who speak different languages: Lao Sun (the Mong from China), Lao Thrung (the Kmhu) and Lao Lum (from the local nations, Thai etc). The Lao Lum speak the language now knows as "Laotian" which is the language taught in all the local schools. We learned a lot about these three and trust me it is very confusing! In the villages, the Laos Lum used concrete foundations (cinder blocks) with a wood/bamboo second level, the Laos Thung built on stilts, and the Laos Sun had large single level thatch houses that were flat on the ground. So now that they all live together and even sometimes marry each other, you still see the differences in the tribes but they are friendly to one another. In addition to passing a couple of villages on the trek, and we also encountered the occasional remote tribesman on our journey. The kids in town were VERY happy, smiley, friendly, and loved seeing their pictures in the viewfinder of your camera. We noticed some were playing double-Dutch with a homemade black rope of some kind and others playing a variation of dodgeball. After a couple hours, we stopped and ate lunch in one village. The Canadians pulled out some moleskin for a blistered heel and all of the village children crowded around to see what it was--it was fun to see them ooh and ahh after we'd been snooping around their village taking pics.
The Trek: Village stops included, we trekked from about 9:00 am to 3:30 pm through several different types of terrain including rice paddies, corn and eggplant fields, through tall trees creating an elegant arch over the path. We trodded past pigs, water buffalo, chickens, goats (bringing new meaning to free-range). We walked by what seemed like plantations of banana and rubber trees. It was interesting to see how they harvest the rubber from the trees. After the tree is 5-6 years old, they scrape the bark and insert a metal spigot that drips rubber into plastic containers attached to the tree. We carefully traversed the edge of the mountain on an 18 inch wide muddied (from the recent rains) path with no hand rails other than the plants you could grab growing out the side of the mountain. With each step, we placed our feet with care so that we had enough traction to take another step without falling on our face (or worse-falling down the hill). We plodded over tree trunks, and tiptoed across rivers and streams on rickety wood bridges, where one of the Swiss guys had his foot fall through a wood plank on the bridge and dropped his camera into the waterfall. Alas, we made it to the waterfalls, and it was well-worth the hike. The gorgeous green blue pools of water were beautifully terraced as if nature was building a resort. Travis waded around a bit, and three of our "teammates" dared to try the rope-swing and fully submerge. We walked past the elephants taking people for a ride into the water then down to a long-tail boat for a 5-minute ride up the river back to the truck.
Note: we took pics with the camera but our phones were in a waterproof container so not many easily-accessible pics for you to see yet.
We get back to town, feeling very cold, and right as Nicole is about to jump in the shower the power goes out. Apparently, this happens on the weekend for 10-60 min at a time--the city shuts off power for whatever reason and just doesn't tell anyone. No power = no hot water (electric water heaters). We went for a foot massage, which was very nice, and well-earned after a full-day hike! They also offered the "fish massage" but we weren't quite ready to be the bait. However, we did see an Australian girl sit there for 30 minutes with her feet in an aquarium while little fish nibbled the dead skin off her feet. Obviously all of you readers will be rushing out to try this. Anyway... during our foot massage the power returned to Luang Prabang, so it was now dinner time.
Dinner at Apsaras: While tempting to continue going after authentic street food, we were curious what a nice dinner at our hotel would taste like. We love the ambience there, so we both voted for Apsara. Dinner was amaze-balls and served by our friend Kat, so we felt right at home. In a shocking coincidence, we were about 15 feet from our bed, so it pretty much was "home." After a fantastic meal and a couple drinks, we decided to go to sleep early after a long day.
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