Laos (Luang Prabang) - white water

Luang Prabang, the place of 33 temples, is  small city and a place dubbed The Gem of Laos. We have not only read but have met people who think it's amazing and would stay forever. Our opinion isn't quite as high but it certainly is a pleasant and lovely city to explore for a few days. The city has imposed limits on traffic and vehicles inside e city which mens that you're not constantly watching your back for buses, lorries and cars - in fact only tuk-tuks and motorbikes are allowed which means the streets are relatively decongested and safe to walk down. The city isn't quite as charming as I expected but I guess that once a place becomes a main stop off point for tourists you are bound to lose some charm. We planned on 4 nights to allow for general exploration of the city, white water rafting and a day to see some local water falls and a bear sanctuary.

The first day we explored visiting some of the 33 temples, picking the biggest and best reviewed ones we could find. They weren't the nicest temples we have seen but good none the less. The Buddhist monks all lived next door to the main temple and watching them go about thier daily lives, washing, eating and praying was interesting to see. At every opportunity when we saw a tour operator (there is a lot) we popped in a asked about white water rafting, they varried in price drastically and after gaining some insight and reading reviews online we went with a respected and Lonely Planet recommended company called Green Discovery Tours.

We got picked up at 8:30 the next day to head out for a day rafting. We boarded a truck with 10 people all together with three guides between us. After stopping to load the truck with paddles, kayaks and various other bits we headed off. After about 1.5 hours of driving we got to the launch point. We unloaded and geared up and then began a brief safety lesson. The trip consisted of a 22km kayak down stream through varying strengths of rapids from 1-3. We had no idea how big they were but the maximum strength is 5 we were told. Having already been kayaking a few times on this trip me and izzi should have been fine but after about 100m we were stuck directly on a rocky/bushy outcrop right in the middle of the first 'baby rapids' as the instructor called them. I had to jump out and try to get us untangled, not a great start to the trip and the instructor told me I owed him a beer! We headed of further down and things became easier, successfully navigating, inside the kayak, several smaller and medium rapids befores stopping for lunch. Me and izzi have got along well on the trip and with little to no problems but by the first stop we had decided that as kayaking partners we weren't so good, god knows how many times we found ourselves going down the wrong way, paddle coordination was none existent and tensions occasionally flared, looking back its funny now but frustrating at the time! The views, scenery and buffalo wallowing in the river bank mud were really cool. We stopped for dinner on a quiet bend and all sat round Lao style and got stuck in, fingers all the way. The food was good considering it was cold and we liked the fact everything was wrapped and served in banana leafs meaning at the end there was no rubbish or mess. We paddled for a further 20-30 minutes then stopped on a bank. Just ahead was the tough part, several strong and dangerous rapids all in a row. Our guides spoke between themselves and carefully examined the currnets telling us the best way to get though and what to avoid. They explained that as it was wet season the river was high and the rapids strong hiding rocks below which were the main danger. We got told to go left, then straight, right around the large rock and paddle hard left again once after the small calm stretch. Rule of the thumb is, if you capsize go feet first and try hold on to your paddle. We set off second in turn to attempt it. The first bit went well we were in position for the next bit then the kayak started to turn and we hit the biggest part of the rapids at an angle. Padding my ass off trying to straightening up, izzi with her eyes closed and not paddling (dont get me started) we had no chance, we hit a rock and I was out! It was scary, I had no chance of staying in but managed to keep hold of the paddle. I smashed into a rock and have bruised my leg and hip. It was great fun and a good bit of adrenaline was pumping though my body once I reached the calm stretch. I felt better as two other people and one of the instructors and his passenger also went over and all at the same point I felt out. We regrouped and made sure everyone was okay, rescuing lost paddles and flipflops people had dropped and headed to the next section. From then on we started to do much better and we didn't capsize once and neither of us fell out. The next sections were fast but not as many rocks and obstacles, we even went down them facing the right way :-). After a further hour or so we reached a wide part of the river and everyone jumped out, floating downstream and letting the current do the work for a change. All in all a great day out and we both felt it the day after, my back and shoulders were aching.

The last day we had planned to get a tuk-tuk to some nearby waterfalls and to a local honey bear sanctuary but izzi wasn't well and stayed in the air conditioned room most of day, I only ventured out for food and medicine. One of the most interesting bits in Luang Prabang was to get up at 5:30am and go see the hundreds of monks follow the alms ritual where people give them food, interesting to see but by 6am I had had enough. We have a flight booked to Chiang Mai the next day so izzi rested and I watched a film and planned the next part of our trip. Having only spent 10 days in Lao I would definitely say we've only seen a glimps and only gone to the main parts, I would come back and venture further south and to some of the lesser known places but you can't do it all and we need go get to Thailand to see the north before our friends come to meet us. It will be nice to see some people we recognise and know for the first time in nearly 3 months.