Beers, Bribes and Damp Shoes

Back at the hostel I met two very nice girls from Belgium who were travelling separately, and alone, like me. I mentioned to them that I’d heard the waterfall was good and had they been there? They said they hadn’t but they’d like to go. So instantly I had a plan and companions for the next day. So we hailed a Tuk Tuk bargained like hell and got on the road. 

Kuangsi Waterfalls, Luang Prabang, Laos

The Kuangsi Waterfalls are an interlocking series of falls cascading into light blue crystal pools where you can swim and relax. We set off early to beat the crowds and arrived at just past 10am. We really wanted to climb to the top as we heard the view was incredible but first you had to walk into the bottom of the falls before you went up. On the way you pass a bear sanctuary. An Australian woman had set the place up to care for and re-educate bears that had been attacked for their bile or abused and made to dance as a tourist attraction. Stolen as small cubs these bears had no idea how to survive in the wild so they were being slowly taught how to seek out their own food in their enclosures in the hope that one day they could be reintroduced to the wild. It was very touching seeing them all there happily wandering about or sleeping on tall platforms, this must be paradise for them.

When we reached the bottom pool there was only one other person there which heartened us only to find a few more as we walked up. But it wasn’t overrun and our trek to the summit was a solitary one. The trail was pretty hard going negotiating sprawling tree roots unearthing themselves only to plunge back into the ground and mud patches on an ever increasing incline. When we finally scrabbled to the top huffing and puffing we were disappointed to find there wasn’t much of a view. Trees pretty much shaded us completely from looking out so we surmised we had come up the wrong way and we should traverse the top of the falls to search for a bigger view. This was easier said than done. At first we removed our shoes to get across only to put them back on when we realised how strong the current was and that the rocks and mud were much too slippery for bare feet. In a line we slowly shuffled one after the other holding hands to keep each other steady. One step at a time we weaved around large rocks and sections of water too deep to cross. I had hitched my bag up to the top of my shoulders as our route became deeper and deeper. We were waist deep, only about 2 metres from the edge of a giant precipice with only a rickety wooden fence at the very edge and our own balance saving us from certain death. Luckily our balance held out and we made it to the other side. Afterwards one of the girls had to light a cigarette to help smoke off the leeches from our legs.

But it was worth it. The view stretched out over the vast landscape and you could see for what felt like hundreds of miles. Jungle green hillsides jutted up to the sky like a collection of Obelix’s stones all competing to be the highest. So big in fact they seemed to belong to a world of giants which made me feel very small indeed.

When we returned to the bottom via stone staircases with sections of water flowing across them and hanging from tree vines to get our footing we were definitely ready to cool off. We stripped down to our bikini’s and threw ourselves into the pale cool water. It was my first swimming of the trip and I was more than in need of it. The currents of the water cascading towards us also added a whirlpool like effect to our swim which was interesting and not entirely unpleasant. When you found a place where you could stand up to survey the scene from the water you felt the fish start to take pops at your feet. On closer inspection they turned out to be the fish used in the Dr Fish foot spas often seen in night markets in Asia. They only feed on the dead skin on your feet which offers a free pedicure for you accompanied by a very ticklish feeling throughout occasionally resulting in outbreaks of giggles and squeaks from the recipient that much look very interesting indeed from the unsuspecting shores.

That evening was my last in town and I hadn’t long to finish up with everything I wanted to see.

I longed to climb the giant hill with a gold turret in the centre of town called Mount Phu Si. It overlooks and protects this town with its calm reassuring presence. At the top of the climb are several Wats with one in particular being famed as an excellent to watch sunsets from. It was 300 steps round a weaving stone path to the summit and in the middle when I was sweating profusely from exertion and the last of the sun’s heat I did wonder why I didn’t space out the days I was climbing. The higher you wound though the more you saw, the views got better and better and the full week of large gold Buddha’s greeted you and willed you ‘onward and upward’ as they gazed out across the valley. On my arrival at the summit I was overwhelmed by the view but also the crowds, apparently I wasn’t the only one with a love of the red skies.

With my long trousers and shawl around my shoulders as the required dress code for such holy places it certainly I was ready to keel over from heat exhaustion but I managed to take a moment to take it all in. Then another couple came and stood directly in front of me blocking my view. I ducked into the Wat itself and decided to sit in the quiet shade for a bit. However the noisy rabble chatting away outside kept me from my peace.

Wat Tham Phu Si, Luang Prabang, Laos

Before the sun had said its final goodbyes I had given up and retreated back down the hill. I stopped a couple of times on the way down to look at the seven gold Buddha’s, one for every day of the week, all in different poses. I sat for a while with Wednesday’s Buddha as he had a playful look about him and was surrounded by burning incense but not 10 seconds of silence would go by before another chatting couple would stumble by or an Indian family in the middle of a row about the best way to the summit. The Dad striding off in one direction claiming ‘This is the way!’ and his wife’s retorts of ‘Of course it’s not that way you stupid man, you only have to look to see it’s not the way. Very clever man you are, always getting it wrong...’ followed by a certain amount of tutting from both sides.

There was nothing to be done but retreat lower towards town. As I walked down the steps away from Wednesday I misjudged the depth of the stone step and stumbled, catching myself just in time. I looked behind and met the smirking gaze of the Buddha ‘you did that on purpose’ I whispered but the Buddha smiled on, admitting nothing. So Buddha’s are not only holy creatures but pranksters too. A lesson learned.

That evening I ate in the street food market and tried the most delicious coconut balls which an old lady was cooking on a grill. Light, fluffy and melt in your mouth.

When I returned the hostel I saw my two ladies who I’d been to the waterfall with and sat down to have a chat. They informed me that the owner of the hostel had refused to pay the local police a bribe and therefore they were shutting him down for 2 weeks effective as from tomorrow. This seemed like a ridiculously tall tale but it turned out to be true. He had done nothing wrong just refused to pay 300 dollars for no good reason. Sometimes even heavenly places such as this can have a sinister undertone. I was also quite glad I was flying out very early the next morning. Some people who had just checked in didn’t seem too pleased by the sudden change and started becoming rowdy and a little rude. They were not yet accustomed to the ramshackle way on which this hostel and in fact this whole town was run. I don’t think it would be as special any other way.