Well after all that excitement it was back to the 'relaxed and unhurried' Luang Prabang and yet another waterfall! Tat Kuang Si is a beautiful spot about 20km out of town, a wide multi-tiered waterfall tumbling into cool turquoise green pools. The ideal place for an afternoon dip when the temperature is in excess of 30 degrees!
Let me just say it's not easy getting any pictures of waterfalls with so many Japanese around, who take pictures of everything and everyone. If a Japanese ever invites you around their house to look at pictures or worse still, their videos - just say "Nag lok sin ting eye hoi pin " Which, roughly translated means - No thank you - I'd rather sit at home and stick hot pins in my eyes.
A set of steps along side the waterfall (in contrary to every health and safety law ever created) gets you up each tier of the waterfall and some spectacular views!
This is Keith posing for a photo shoot for the latest 'Linx' advertisement. The water was refreshingly cool. This excellent picture was taken by Elvis - credit where due!Back into the main town of Luang Prabang again, this is view of the town from temple hill of Phu Si.
With the sun having disappeared what's a girl to do now but .... go shopping in the night market! The people quite cleverly set the market up on the main street, so no matter where you want to go, you have to squeeze through the market stalls - it's all very civil though - no hard sell at all.The market was also full of food stalls, some better than others and many a thing that we've never seen before.
How about this for a plant holder! Do you recognise this - the label says 'Made in the USA' and it was delivered by airmail in the 1970's!
You can still buy bomb casings or bullet cartridges if you want to - after all there's plenty of them about!
Some more of these cheeky 'monk-ees', eeee it's a monk's life here! They were busy sprucing the old place up for their New Year Celebrations, which they call the 'water celebration' here it's also over 3 days too, this year the 13, 14 and 15 April. Although like all celebrations they started about a week early. The general theme of the celebrations is to get everyone as wet as possible. This can mean being shot at with a little water pistol to literally having a bucket of water thrown over you! We did spend about a week getting drenched every day!It'll never catch on at home, the emergency services would never cope.
This rickety bridge has been built by the villagers and you have to pay to cross, it cost us a whopping 50 pence, mind you that's return! As soon as the kids are back from school it's straight down to the river, kit off and jump in!
Again - no fighting or crying or squabbling, everyone just gets in and all you'll here is kids laughing!
For a free cup of tea, this bridge is built entirely from a local source material, what would that be you reckon?
This is the sun setting along the meeting of two rivers the Nam Khan and the Mekong (the Mekong is on the right!)
Well we set the alarm for 5am and were up and out to see the monks receive alms at 6am. It's a truly fantastic sight! Buddhist monks do not produce their own food, so the towns folk come out to feed them every morning. It brings good luck, health etc if you offer a monk food. They all come trooping out of the temples and form a processions of saffron robes lining the pavements. The locals (and tourists if they like) line up and give food. Whilst this is going on the local kids also stand nearby with a carrier bag awaiting a donation from a monk. We were thinking of nicking a couple of robes and joining the back of the queue - anything for a free meal!! Elvis wouldn't shave her head though!
This is tourists giving food out. I think the monks like the tourists because they bring chocolate biscuits etc, otherwise all they get from the locals is sticky rice!! Sticky rice is nice, but seven days a week could be a bit too much!
Again - no fighting or crying or squabbling, everyone just gets in and all you'll here is kids laughing!For a free cup of tea, this bridge is built entirely from a local source material, what would that be you reckon?
This is the sun setting along the meeting of two rivers the Nam Khan and the Mekong (the Mekong is on the right!)
Well we set the alarm for 5am and were up and out to see the monks receive alms at 6am. It's a truly fantastic sight! Buddhist monks do not produce their own food, so the towns folk come out to feed them every morning. It brings good luck, health etc if you offer a monk food. They all come trooping out of the temples and form a processions of saffron robes lining the pavements. The locals (and tourists if they like) line up and give food. Whilst this is going on the local kids also stand nearby with a carrier bag awaiting a donation from a monk. We were thinking of nicking a couple of robes and joining the back of the queue - anything for a free meal!! Elvis wouldn't shave her head though!
This is tourists giving food out. I think the monks like the tourists because they bring chocolate biscuits etc, otherwise all they get from the locals is sticky rice!! Sticky rice is nice, but seven days a week could be a bit too much!
This is the old colonial bridge, only pedestrians and bikes allowed.
It's not too steady and we did have a hair raising moment when we walked over and one of the boards gave way, my foot nearly went through - followed shortly afterwards by another type of ''follow through" and a strange smell of pooh!
A view from the bridge looking up river.
Anyone for barbecued fish? We had it one evening then it became a daily ritual - it was truly scrumptious!
Enjoying some more culinary delights of the night market, rice with the fish followed by pork noodle soup and then these sweet rice cakes we found that we loved. I had a large beer, Elvis had a shandy and there was still a little change from three pounds!
It's not too steady and we did have a hair raising moment when we walked over and one of the boards gave way, my foot nearly went through - followed shortly afterwards by another type of ''follow through" and a strange smell of pooh!
A view from the bridge looking up river.
Anyone for barbecued fish? We had it one evening then it became a daily ritual - it was truly scrumptious!
Enjoying some more culinary delights of the night market, rice with the fish followed by pork noodle soup and then these sweet rice cakes we found that we loved. I had a large beer, Elvis had a shandy and there was still a little change from three pounds!
FCOT answers: The Nam Ou river does in fact flow into the mighty Mekong river, although we would have accepted the Wear or Tyne!! So another free cup to Sissy. However, Paul and Sissy are testing our patience with the red curry - green curry - yellow curry question, internationally known as 'The Currygate affair' . I've decided to forward your claims to the appeals panel, which next meets around the 10th June to sort out that one.
4 comments:
Yet more fantastic pictures, great scenery and a good photographic eye. I notice Keith giving Suzanne credit for one. Could it be that Suzanne takes more pictures than Keith allows us to know about? In the Lynx picture - has Keith's shorts shrunk with the wash, or are they 1970's football shorts he's wearing? Perhaps even made in Thailand?
See if you can get one of those plant pots for me garden, will ye? I know you're travelling light at the moment, so you may have to post it back, although I dread to think what British customs would make of it.
FCOT question - is the bridge made from bomb casings? or cane?
And barbequed fish eh? 'Nag lok sin ting eye hoi pin'
Tyne/Wear Derby tomorrow. Beaney is flying back from his Florida holiday into Manchester and then racing back up the A1 to get home for it. I reckon he'll have one bottle and have both reactors shutdown by half-time.
is the bridge answer teak as in the seventies all your mod furniture was made from it and it all came from that area. milly
Blood clivver those monkees....gettin the dole without declarin it! Are you sure you two couldn't have found enough orange gear to tack on to the end! Then you'd really be talkin budget!
Is the bridge made of old rope made at Dawson and Ushers old ropeworks in Hendon and left by previous intrepid explorers from the north east ?
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