TRAVELMAN LAOS: An afternoon chasing waterfalls and an evening with a lovely lady from London.

On the second day God said, "Let there be a stunning waterfall for Travelman to visit." And it was so.

And on the second evening God said, "Let there be a lovely lady from London who speaks the Queen's English and with whom Travelman can try snake whiskey and get lost in Luang Prabang." And it was so.

Amen.

In the morning, Paul arranged a mini-van (that turned into two mini-vans) that took us to this waterfall about fifty minutes outside of town. I wasn't so sure about a fifty minute ride to a waterfall but I figured it was something to see and something to do. I found out it was a big something.

Kuang Si waterfall isn't just one waterfall, it's a continuing cascade of ever more magnificent falls.

The mini-van drops you off a few hundred yards from the entrance to the park. Shops lined the street on the walk up the road. They sold souvenir bracelets, clothes, food, and snacks. We paid the small entrance fee and went inside. All visitors walk along a path that leads to a bear sanctuary. I don't know much about the bears except that they need to be saved.

A giant spider was hanging out in a web to the rear of a bear viewing platform.

We walked a bit more and reached the first waterfall pool. It was pretty, but I wasn't that impressed. Then we followed the path and I became more and more impressed

There were designated areas to swim in the falls. A petrified tree trunk jutted out over the water in this area. It provided a perfect six foot high dive. A no jumping sign hung near it, ignored by all. I didn't jump. I have a tiny phobia of slipping on wet logs, and the water was cold. My only regret is not getting a shot of myself in the falls.

They had a restaurant alongside the falls where we had some lunch.

It was a 10 minute, steep, switchback climb to the top of the falls. Everyone who made the climb agreed that although they were glad they went to the top, it wasn't much worth it except for the satisfaction of knowing for yourself that it wasn't much.

That evening I was able to meet up with Abbie and her friends Lizzie and Hollie. We went to the night market. Luang Prabang's Night market is the best that I've been to by far. They had so many tempting pieces of jewelry, trinkets, and clothes and foods that even I was interested. Hollie kept stopping at every other booth, she enjoyed it immensely.

I regret that I didn't buy a few of the beautifully intricate pop up greeting cards they had for sale. They had Ferris wheels, motorcycles, Christmas scenes, Halloween scenes, and more. They were so cheap and finely crafted. They would have been great to send home.

I didn't take many pictures that night, but I don't regret it. I was busy enjoying my time with great company. Abbie and I split off for a minute and stopped at a tent that sold snake whiskey! The lady selling it had us sit down on tiny stools and give the snake whiskey and the rice wine a try. We tried two kinds of wine and the whiskey. The whiskey left a bit of a fire trail in my throat.

We felt bad for not wanting to buy anything after we sat with the woman, as she gave us so many free samples. I would've bought one of the bottles that contained a cobra looking snake eating a smaller snake but I woudn't have been able to carry it around with me for the next ten months. So I chose the single tiniest bottle of snake whiskey and bought it. (basically a shot and a half).

Only one of those tiny bottles was on display among all the others. Later, I wondered if the whiskey lady kept one on display for customers such as myself.

So now I'm carrying it around with me, waiting for that perfect night to break out the snake! The whiskey seller said it gives men power. I'll trust her on that.

Abbie and I split off from Hollie and Lizzie again to get some food. Abbie had a chocolate fruit pastry and I had some awesome fried chicken. After eating we couldn't find Holly and Lizzie. We looked around the night market for close to an hour. Abbie thought it odd that they wouldn't be looking for her. We went back to their hostel, but couldn't find them. Abbie sent them a message through the hostel's wifi.

I said, "You want to go drink some vodka and bowl in Laos?"

Abbie said, "Yeah."

Awesome!

Abbie entered the bowling alley into Mapsme. It looked as though it was less than a fifteen minute walk. I said that seemed odd because I'd remembered riding for quite a good length in the tuk tuk the previous evening. But who was I to question Mapsme? ...I was someone who should have.

We walked and we talked. We walked further and talked and laughed. We walked further still, talked, laughed, and wondered where in the great wide world of Luang Prabang we were. Finally, Mapsme led us to a gravel driveway in a back alley. The alley was lined with small houses but no bowling alley.

Mapsme is the backpackers best friend, but even best friends can be dumb asses that give you bad info sometimes.

We decided to grab a tuk tuk. It wasn't long before we came across one, negotiated a price and hopped in the back.

The bowling alley was only half full. Abbie and I bought a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of Sprite and began to bowl. Neither of us were any good, although I did bowl a strike on the first frame. Just as the last evening, we were deep into our gutter ball match when a boat load of people arrived. We invited those we knew into our lane, and played, and shared the vodka.

Gary, the party man from Uraguay, bought us a bucket of ice. M was bowling a particularly bad game and simply didn't want to be last in a long line of bad scores. I properly represented America and scored the highest by a large margin. It still wasn't a good score but it doesn't feel bad to be first, even if it's just bowling.

When the Vodka was gone and it was late, we went outside and shot sharp arrows into targets with a bow (really, they weren't sharp, but still...) Gary strung his bow and waved it around wildly at the crowd. Oh, Gary.

We piled into a tuk tuk and took off for the hostel. Five minutes into the ride I realized I left my backpack in the archery area. Absent mindedness strikes again! Paul banged on the roof above the driver and had him turn around. My bag was waiting for me on a chair.

The tuk tuk dropped us off at our hostel and I walked Abbie home down the quiet street.

Another great night, and another great day was to come. ...

!steemitworldmap 19.8888 lat 102.1276 long Waterfall chasing in Luang Prabang, Laos, d3scr