Kuang Si waterfall, Luang Prabang

There are several waterfalls around Luang Prabang but by far the most beautiful and picturesque one is at Kuang Si, about 30 kms southwest of the town.  This has been by far the most beautiful scenery we have seen on this trip.  The pools of azure blue colour are terraced at the bottom of a steep cliff.  Swimming is allowed and young people are in large numbers enjoying the cool waters.  The spectacle is quite stunning.  It is an undoubtedly popular tourist attraction and you can certainly appreciate why

As you walk along towards the waterfall, you can also admire the black Moon bears which are kept in several large and comfortable enclosures.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Arriving in Laos is a little like entering a time capsule.  It is less populated and more laid back than Vietnam.  Luang Prabang is a small city of about 90,000 people.  Traffic is slow and the city is very clean.  There seems to be a lot of civic pride about their environment.  It is a UNESCO protected heritage city and also the best preserved traditional city in southeast Asia.

The town is full of cafes and riverside bars.  Its situation and stunning location, surrounded by a crown of mountains, mark it as exceptional. Anchored at the junction of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, the former royal capital has been a mountain kingdom for over 1000 years.  The place still oozes the magic of bygone days.

Our hotel is the nicest yet of all the hotels we stayed at, which is saying something as they have all been lovely in different ways.  This one, the Maison Dulabua, is set in a luscious garden with palm trees and lily ponds all around.  You feel that you are in a tropical garden as you saunter over to breakfast.

Our first excursion was a boat trip along the Mekong River again, this time to visit a famous cave that has become over the years a site of religious pilgrimage for Buddhists who bring small and large statues of Buddha to leave in the cave.

Water buffalo along the way.

The entrance to the cave.

Inside the cave.

Looking out at the river from inside the cave.

We stopped at a rice whisky distillery and saw an amazing variety of snakes and scorpions preserved in and infusing the rice wine.  The result is claimed to have medicinal value and promote health and virility.

Thanks to Andrew's early rising habits, we got these photos of the Laotian monks going about their business at 6:00am.  They collect food - mainly rice - from people who are kneeling on the pavement.  That is how many monks get a daily meal.

When normal waking hours arrived we went to visit several temples which involved climbing hundred of steep steps but we did get a nice view of the city and the river.  Unfortunately the haze that hangs about spoils the ability to reproduce the views.  It is the result of smoke from the burning off of the secondary forest.

This is a simpler Laotian temple rather than the elaborate Thai style ones.

The imperial palace where the king used to reside. It is now treated like a museum showing the way the king lived, and artifacts included gifts received from various countries (one of which was an Australian boomerang).  Interestingly, it is treated as if it were a temple and I had to cover my bare shoulders whereas at the temple proper they did not insist on this.

A statue of one of the past kings.

For morning coffee our guide took us to a splendid coffee house called Saffron Cafe.  They served coffees of various origins and styles of coffee making.

We could not resist ordering the French toast with mango which we shared three ways.







Later on we had lunch at the Tamarind Restaurant where we were served a tray of Laotian specialities.  In Vietnam, like here, we were always given a very nice set menu but there we also got it written up for information so we knew exactly what we were eating.  Here in Laos they do not write it down and we are often in the dark as to what we are being served.  We do ask but do not always understand the answer.

The big black leaves are dried seaweed with sesame seeds - a specialty of Luang Prabang.  They are surprisingly nice.  The Laotian sausage was particularly tasty.

These are some sort of stuffed chicken concoctions on a skewer of lemon grass stalks.  They were nice too.

Halong Bay

At last we arrived at Halong Bay.  After seeing many photos of this spot I expect this to be the highlight of this Vietnam trip.  We are sailing on a small cruise ship called the Athena, with about 20 other people.  Our cabin is just like a hotel room with en-suite.

Today is our second to last day in Vietnam.  Tomorrow night we fly to Luang Prabang in Laos to spend a week in that country. It only has 7 million people compared with Vietnam's 96 million.

This is not our ship but one very like it.  This one is somewhat prettier because of the sails.

Our guide tells us that there are 700 cruise ships in Halong Bay and there are no more to be built as it is getting too crowded.

It is lovely to be sitting at lunch and watching beautiful islands just floating by.

A fishing boat among the cruisers.

We went to see some caves and some of us went in rowing boats, worked by the locals, and others kayaked.  Here is Andrew in the kayak with the cruise manager of the ship.

Kayaking among the lovely stony sculptures that Halong Bay is dotted with.  There are apparently about 4,000 islands in the bay.

The caves in one of the islands had amazing stalactites.

We leave Vietnam this evening.  We enjoyed it.

Back in Hanoi

We arrived back to Hanoi after the excursion to Sapa.  The car journey took five hours but it was worth the long journey.  We all enjoyed Sapa.  It was such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the cities, with quiet villages and beautiful rice terraces everywhere.

This is our last glimpse of Hanoi as tomorrow we set off for Halong Bay.

A lovely temple in the middle of the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.

A beautifully silhouetted bridge taking one to the Ngoc Son Temple on an island in the lake.