Friday, November 22 - Beautiful Laotian Countryside

Friday, November 22 - Beautiful Laotian Countryside

Accompanied by our guide, we spent much of this morning on the Mekong River, passing small family farms climbing the sloped riverbanks, fishing nets and small boats, and remote villages.  The surrounding area was marked by deep green mountains, and we were reminded of our beloved Adirondacks of upstate New York -- with banana trees!

We stopped at a tiny river town, popularly known as "Whisky Village," where a variety of rice liquors are distilled on a very small scale and in a decidedly low-tech way.  We sampled a variety of their offerings and bought a bit of one of the less lethal ones.  The dirt paths through the village were lined with stalls, most of which offered beautiful textile items made right there by women who were working their looms as they tended to their retail operations.

A bit farther upriver, we stopped at the Pak Ou caves, where thousands of Buddha statues of varying size, material, age, and decoration are displayed.

Our lunch was on a restaurant balcony just across the river from the caves and we enjoyed the views of the river traffic, mountains and the small riverside peanut, corn, and bean farm below our perch.

Back downriver at Luang Prabang, our driver was waiting to take us to another trip into the nearby countryside.  The town is cradled by green mountains and bordered by lush farmland and small villages and we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see them.  Our destination was the Kuang Si Waterfalls, about 45 minutes outside of Luang Prabang, and they were simply spectacular -- in the middle of a forest, water cascading from high above, forming multiple levels of turquoise pools.  The whole scene was magical, so perfect that it seemed as if were a tropical resort or a movie set.

Tonight's dinner was on the porch of a colonial house, watching the action on Luang Prabang's main drag, followed by one last walk through the night market. One thing we've noticed this afternoon and evening is that the sidewalk is lined with women and young girls at small tables, all selling lottery tickets; the lucky numbers will be announced tomorrow, and it appears that everyone wants to win!

We've enjoyed our short time in Laos and feel we've only scratched the surface of this country, except for temples; we've got them covered!

Tomorrow, we fly to Bangkok, our last destination on this trip.