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Trip Start Feb 19, 2010 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 27, 2010 Next
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  Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

After a full day of temple hopping we got it into our heads to get up at 5 am to wath the monks getting their food from the Lao people. All monks leave their temples at 6 am and walk along the streets with a kind of bucket in which the Lao people make their offerings. It is a beautiful sight but unfortunately too many tourists just don]t have any respect. Some stay like 50cm from the monks and just shoot them with theit picture cameras, walking along the procession instead of standing back and watching quietly. The monks are even thinking about moving out of Luang Prabang in order to have their peace. It]s a shame! After that we had breakfast at the Scandinavian Bakery (???) and tried to find a boa to get us to the Pak Ou caves, about 1 hour north on the Mekong river. Just took us about 1 hour to find a boat  (at 8am). Finally we found one and after 10 minutes bargaining were on our way! Made a stop in a supposedly whiskey village, where just one little guy distilles rice and make the national Lao Lao. For fun, hey add a fat scorpion or snake in the bottle! Was not really worth the stop, but well. The caves were quite impressive....thousands of buddah statues of all sizes, some made out of wood, others out of horn. We bought some tapioca pancakes from a little guy....delicious. Went to town to book ourselves some tours for the coming days : two days with the elephants at the elephant village...we will each get our own elephant (sic!) and will have to learn to become Mahouts!!!!! Feed them, bathe them, etc... should be fun. also planned a homestay in a family in a mountain village! But first, tomorrow, we are going to the Kouang Si Falls! The kids have been asking for an opportunity to swimm and although they did play a few minutes in the Nam Kane river at the guesthouse, it doesn]t count! After a diner in a slightlz lower restaurant category (Michael thinks that to get our stomachs used to the local food with should downgrade restaurants everyday!!!!) we're off to bed.
Next day the falls are just breathtaking...the water is so blue it doesn't look natural! The falls form little pools with the water streaming from one to the other. The girls are happy to play in the water lthough it is freezing cold. I must mention that the temperatures are very nice. LP is 600m above sea level... the nights are fresh and the mornings almost cold...Amelie gets dressed under the covers in her bed!!! But as soon as the sun is up, the temperatures rise and hit the 30s, but the air being dry, it is no problem.
After the waterfalls we get back to the hotel to do some homework. The girls are cooperating, Mathilde will probably be finished with the whole programm in 3 weeks and they seem to sense the fun in doing Math sipping a fresh fruit shake under the palm trees! We decide to stay and have dinner at the hotel tonight. Everybody is tired, not competely over the jetlag and tomorrow we are leaving for our homestay!

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One of I don]t know how many temples!	Local gastronomy!	First real night out!	Homework
Bungalow	Another temple!	Somewhere...	Local mean of transportation......tuk tuk
No comment needed	Pak Ou caves	Pak Ou caves	Little girl selling birds.
Bouui boui food!	Lao lao (local whiskey)! Prost!	Food.......again!	Kouang Si falls
Kouang Si falls	Kouang Si falls	Kouang Si falls	And getting food again!!!!!
A young novice

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