Laos — Tour — Exploring the countryside around Luang Prabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ/ຫຼວງພະບາງ), Laos
Out on the road
September 2015
After a couple of days looking around Luang Prabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ/ຫຼວງພະບາງ), I had seen about all there was to see in the town, so I asked the receptionist at the hotel to recommend a tour and to book it for me.
The tour included:
- Tham Ting (Tam Ting)/Pak Ou (Pak Ou; ถ้ำติ่ง) Caves
- Ban Xanghai (ບ້ານຊຽງຮາຍ): Liquor & Silk Village
- Kuang Si Waterfall (ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ ກວາງຊີ)
- Bear Rescue Centre
- Kuang Si Butterfly Park
There was a cost for the tour, and there was also a cost to enter some attractions listed above.
I left the hotel at 8 am sharp, and after about 35 minutes, we turned off the main road onto a bumpy side road that we were told was impassable after heavy rain. Anyone with a bad back should not attempt the route in a Tuk Tuk. My back got jarred on a couple of occasions. Quite painful.
As we drove along, I kept seeing a lot of villagers along the side of the road, randomly hacking away with machetes at bushes and ditches. Why? The only useful work I saw them doing was removing large fallen branches encroaching onto the road.
We arrived at our first destination, a tiny and poor village, at 9:10 am, where I caught a boat across the river to our first destination, the Tham Ting (Tam Ting)/Pak Ou (Pak Ou) Caves.
