I Love Luang Prabang

It is hard to get off a 7 hour bus ride and love anything - but from a first look at Luang Prabang I knew I'd want to stay here for a while.

Luang Prabang is towards the north of Laos and it's a cute little town between two rivers. Our initial stroll through town revealed several reasonably priced restaurants along the water and a fabulous night market.

"Have you ridden your bike for 20 miles?" Doug asked me that evening as we discussed plans for the next day.

"No," I explained " but I've ridden it more than 10 miles a couple of times."

We wanted to go see the large waterfall that was 35 km away (about 20 miles). Due to the high level of motorbike accidents involving tourists coupled with a very poor health care system, Luang Prabang had outlawed tourists renting motorbikes. So to get to the waterfall we had two options - rent bicycles or take a tuk tuk.

Convinced that I could at least make it out to the waterfall and find a way home if necessary, we set out on our bike ride. And it was kind of a debacle. After about 10 km into our ride I needed a break. We had been going straight up hill for ages and it looked like the rest of the ride could be this way. Doug was concerned and so was I. I was already exhausted and we were not even half way there.

We took a moment to rest and I got back on my bike. After another 2 km up, the gods heard my prayers and we had a miraculous several kilometer decent or just flat.

I won't go through the rest of the ride - but there was a lot more up and by the time we got to the waterfall I thought I was going to die. Right at the entrance a tuk tuk driver saw me and said "Tuk tuk back?"

"Yes!" I gratefully replied with all my energy left.

The waterfall was gorgeous. Doug didn't stay too long as he wanted to make sure he got back before dark. I took longer to walk around both sides of it and to see the black bears. It was definitely worth it to go - but I also learned that 20 miles is really far to bike.