Day 132 - Oh Mai, Oh Mai, how long to Chiang Mai?

A great way to end my stay in Luang Prabang!

Day 132 - 02nd November

So my final day in Luang Prabang was already here. It was bad for many reasons. I'd come to love the place, I'd had a pretty awesome hostel with an abundance of hot shower water and lastly, I was only a few hours away from jumping on an 18 hour journey to Chiang Mai. Yes, I did say 18 hours.

To avoid thinking about it, I headed to the post office to send my nanna's postcards and then I wandered down to Utopia again to relax for a few hours. I tell you, a Dark Beer Lao is the way forward at 10am.

With an Oreo shake, that baby is a thing of beauty.

I read and did some work before having a 'Bacon Bomb Burger'. Anything with bacon and BBQ sauce is a winner in my book.

I took one final excursion to the market, buying a lemon fruit shake and two packets of cashews for my journey before heading back to the hostel for pick up.

I shared a Tuk Tuk with a Dutch couple who were good company to the bus station and when I arrived, I was presented to a mini van driver who put my luggage on the roof of his vehicle. I tried to questioned where my double decker or at least single tier coach was but ey just pointed me toward the mini van door.

Shit! This is going to be a killer for 18 hours.

I settled in a singular seat and we set off just before 6pm. I had an annoying Chinese guy in front of me that limited my already limited space by ramming his seat backwards into a decline. Then he pulled it forwards again. And then back again. This is more annoying when it's 1am, you've just managed to get into a snooze and your knees are crushed suddenly. Bloody pillock!

Someone, the driver I think, was hawking his lungs up every few minutes so when I closed my eyes it felt like I was back in China.

Silver lining, I met four Chinese elders who found it fascinating that I'd been to Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. They keep tapping my leg and putting their thumbs up to me which was a good thing I suppose. They kept saying 'Ingua' which I remembered as being England or English.

Just a few more hours and I would reach the border. Then everything will be easy... yeah right!

Day 131 - Kuang Si Waterfall, Utopia and Auf Wiedersehen to Matthius

The smug look of victory

Day 131 - 01st November

Oh what a glorious day. Not because of the location, not because of the plan for the day ahead and not because the weather was brilliant. I finally remembered my password for my sitcom script! Oh the feeling of five months of beating myself up for having a crap brain had suddenly been washed away by a sweet loading bar that told me my document was opening! Five hours of script and many months more worth of work returned to me in an instant. I was elated!

My greatest nemesis but I'm glad the sanctuary is looking after them

So when Matthius arrived at 11am for our trip to Kuang Si waterfall, I was pumped to go. We rode in a mini van for 45 minutes and arrived at the site. We had three hours to explore and explore we did.

Stunning, but just the beginning

See what I mean?

Each level was its own unique piece of beauty. The water, turquoise blue from the limestone's calcium carbonate, made it look like something mystical beneath the surface. It was full of tourist which always is a bit of a bummer (I class myself as a traveller, it's different), but we made our way, rock hopping into the middle of the pools and away from said tourists to get better photos.

Incredible!

Then we scaled the side of waterfall to see the view from the top. Despite me slipping continuously in my Toms, I was glad of the hassle. The view from the peak was stunning. One sight I will always remember.

Almost a good one.

A sight to behold, or some other quote to that effect

In the afternoon, we went in search of my batteries for my card reader and a keyboard for Matt's laptop, which had been having problems. We found both and I was thinking, 'my luck is really in today.'

Not a bad shot

After this latest triumph, we made our way to the top of Phu Si Mountain (pronounced Pussy Mountain - this is not a joke) and took in the sunset. As usual a cloud cover had ruined the perfect chance of a NatGeo shot but it was still great to see the sun setting behind the mountains that were situated beside the mighty Mekong River.

What a bargain for 15,000 kip although it's a killer if you mix up a spring roll with a banana fritter. Trust me, it's easy!

Again it was dinner time and we headed to the night market to spend 15,000 kip (£1.25) on a street buffet. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this, but it was superb.

Not a night shot but you get the gist.

Utopia was our final stop of the day, a haven for a stargazer and beer lover. It has loungers of an entirely different level. Once again, the pictures tell you everything.

So goodbye took place, this time an Auf Wiedersehen to my German travelling companion. Best of luck to him as he continues onwards in Laos. Tomorrow I headed to Thailand and I inch closer to seeing my sister and cousin for a two week stint. One week left guys!