We decided to take a leisurely kayaking trip today to show that 70 year olds can still do this sort of thing. Our driver Mr Tot took us to meet our tour guide “Year” at the river where we could then paddle down with the current.
We had double kayaks so that the girls could drift along if they wanted and Year had his own kayak. It was a very pleasant trip and we could all cope with the paddling reasonably well. Obviously there were many arguments about the steering ability of people but none of us fell in or crashed.
We stopped after 30 minutes and had a swim in the river, the girls struggled to walk into the water on the smooth rocks, but once in the water it was very refreshing and pleasant.
During the paddle we saw a lot of water buffalo lounging on the waters edge as well as a few elephants on the plantations. We also saw a few goats and towards the end of the paddle we saw an elephant being washed in the river.
Another stop for a swim and lunch and then we finished off our trip after two hours on the river. It was a really good experience, but our muscles were a bit sore afterwards and we were ready for a good sleep.
Instead of sleeping we went off to see Kuang Si Waterfall, which is a huge attraction in Luang Prabang.
The car park was full of tour busses and people movers. You parked at the bottom and then bought a ticket to be taken up in the electric busses to the top where you could then walk to the top of the waterfall. It was a bit like Disneyland in setup. You could swim in the waterfall at certain places but we had had enough swimming for the day and just really wanted a rest and some beers.
Once back at the hotel our tour guide dropped around so that Bruce could set up a website for him on Facebook. He had been quoted 7 000 000 kip to do this, which Bruce told him was ridiculous since it could be done for free. He was a nice young man, so he sat down with Bruce for an hour and we created a page for him. https://www.facebook.com/LPTourGuide
Bruce will change the name of the URL if he can so that it is simpler to put on pamphlets. If anyone wants to look at his page and follow him or like his posts it would help his small business.
Went out for dinner at the same restaurant as the previous night and enjoyed watching the sun set again.
