Waterfall

We hired a van to drive us out to see some waterfalls. Luang Prabhang in and of itself is a wonderful destination, but as with all other southeast Asian tourist spots, the secondary sites around it are limited to the tired old temple-waterfall-cave-ethnic village combination. (Eventually, somebody will add an elephant trek, a crocodile farm, some kayaking, and a hiking trail to form a complete set of attractions.)

So we chose the waterfall. We chose right. The drive out to the waterfall was a little bumpy, but not overly so. It certainly was scenic. We arrived at the waterfall and it really was pretty... even at the very hind end of dry season. (We tried to imagine what it would be like with thrice the amount of water coming down... it would be exceptional for sure.) The water was very cold which was a bit of a letdown as I really wanted to swim. I managed to get in about waist deep before giving up. Rick managed to get all the way in.

Rick wandered down river and found a nice deserted house which design he wanted to use when he gets around to building on the land he brought down close to Vientiane. I had to admit it was quite nice, and very traditional. Also inexpensive: A house like this in Laos would cost around $10,000 to build.

We went to a nearby shack-style restaurant (i.e. a thatched straw roof over a bamboo frame, with few or no walls around it) and had lunch, which consisted of noodle soup... a Lao staple.

After that, we stopped at a Hmong village which was kind of crap. Unlike the Lao people last night at the night market, you get the feeling that the Hmong people would rather you just stayed away... just send money. The kids begged. The adults pretended to be nice until they realized that you weren't going to buy anything, and then just went back in their houses to watch TV. The whole village came out to their stalls en masse when we arrived. By the time we left, there wasn't a soul in sight.