Today we decided to hire a driver with our new friends we'd met from our boat trip. It's cheaper to do this with more people, so it made sense that way. The driver said he'd take us to temples and some waterfalls. It turned out to be just the four of us in a minivan, so it was a spacious ride. We didn't really know what places we were being taken to, but it would be a little adventure. We probably wouldn't have done this on our own, due to the costs involved.

Mount Phou Si (golden temple)

Our first stop was the temple on the hill, which was the one we could see when we came here from the boat in our tuk tuk. It did look alluring, so i'm glad we came to this one. The name, Phou Si means sacred hill. Our driver stopped so we could visit the temple. We were the only ones there, so had the whole place to ourselves, which was good. We took a few photos from the outside, then went inside to explore the temple. I hadn't really studied it until Corinne pointed out how macabre the paintings were. Most of them on the lower floor were to do with death and weren't very nice. As we went up to higher levels, the paintings got less macabre and slightly more happy. We reached the top floor to look outside at the views surrounding Luang Prabang. They were an amazing expanse of greenery, forests and some temples in the distance. It was a beautiful area surrounding the place. We paid our respects and left the temple.

Tad thong waterfall

After we left the temple, our driver took us to the first waterfall we'd be visiting. He said this one is less touristy, so there shouldn't be too many people there hopefully. It took us around half an hour to drive there. This waterfall is called Tad Thong. The guide did say to us it's low season at the moment, which we thought would be good for us here. However we were mistaken. When he said low season, he really meant low waterfall levels. We paid our entrance fees and saw another elephant camp here. This time these elephants were on chains, which was awful to see. They are here for elephant rides also, but i'm not sure how many people come here unless they come on organised tours from Luang Prabang.

So we had a look at the map of this place and tried to find the waterfall, and there's also a cave too. We walked over a bridge and the waterfall we'd been looking for became apparent. It was nothing more than a little trickle of water. There were a few tiers, but hardly any water was running. I could understand that in the right season, it could be a lovely waterfall, but when there's not much water, it's a bit pointless coming here. We walked further up to the source of the fall. Corrine got down in the waterfall and started swinging on the rope that would be above water in the rainy season.

When we reached the top of the fall, we were surprised to see that the source was coming from two pipes. We were not impressed by that so came back and walked to try and find the cave. Just as we were walking on the wet slippery rocks, I wasn't looking where I was going and slipped over on my bum in a puddle of mud! My whole dress was covered in mud, so I went into the water to try and wash myself off. It was funny and i'm really starting to be able to laugh at myself rather than take everything to heart! We came back on the bridge and saw a little tree house, that was pretty cool so we walked up to it. I saw these huge looking things, a bit like black bees, there was a nest of them in the tree trunk. You wouldn't want to disturb these and get stung by them! We didn't find the cave, so headed back to our bus.

Tad Sae waterfall

Our last stop involved driving through mountainous winding roads. It was not a journey I was enjoying because I felt travel sick. It took around an hour to reach the next waterfall, so despite being wonderful scenery, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep throughout the journey. It also rained along the way, and continued to rain when we got there. So we went for a pretty average lunch first, then afterwards the rain cleared up.

Bear sanctuary

We had to pay 20,000 kip each for entrance to the Tad Sae waterfall. At first I tonight it was a bit expensive, but after we entered the site and they have a bear rescue centre, I realised it was actually not a bad price. So once we'd entered, we walked past the bear centre, stopping to admire the bears. I could have easily stayed here longer, but as we are with the others, I couldn't hang around for too long. There were loads of black bears, a lot smaller than the size of Baloo. They were really cute and docile. Their enclosure was actually fairly large and had a lot of playground apparatus. The bears were climbing on the frames and some were basking in the sun. One was so intrigued that it came towards everyone and stood up on it's hind legs. I really liked these bears.

After the bears, we continued our trek to the waterfall. It was through a jungle track and as it had been raining, the rocks were slippery and wet. There were lots of people at this place, but it is the touristic waterfall after all. We reached the pool of water where people were allowed to swim. It was a lovely place to be able to come swimming. There were tiers of water at different levels from all the falls. We decided to view each level before getting into the water. As we went higher up, the waterfall became more beautiful. We were stopping to take a lot of photos on the way up to the top. When we reached the top of the waterfall, I was surprised to see a very tall vertical fall. It was not as good as Iguazu Falls, as that holds a special place in my heart, but it was the best waterfall we've seen since then. I was really impressed by it.

We then came back down the levels and decided to go for a swim in the waterfall. People were bathing in all parts of it, even the places they shouldn't be swimming in. We all got in and the water was freezing, although quite refreshing on a really hot day like today. Once I went further into the water, I felt something tickling my feet. I am pretty sure it was those fish they use in the foot spa places. So if you wanted a free foot spa, this is the place to come. I didn't like my feet being tickled so much by the fish, so got out. The rest of the others stayed in the water. We stayed for a little longer, then our guide came to find us. He shows us a section of the waterfall that had a landslide a few weeks ago. It was the section we'd been swimming in and we didn't even notice until he pointed it out. Although, when he did, it became obvious, there were big chunks of limestone all cracked off, which had broken into the water. It still looked pretty even after that had happened. It was also lucky that nobody was hurt when it happened a few weeks ago too.

As the guide came to collect us, it was time to leave the waterfall. It was somewhere I didn't have such a high expectation about, but because I didn't, I was thoroughly surprised with the place. It may be touristic, but it is for a reason, so give it a chance and you will appreciate it so much.

Village visit

After we left the waterfall, we had to get back in the van. I still felt a little queasy or (wheezy) as John said! I was trying to not think about it, so we all chatted on the way back. We also stopped at a local village, where the guide would introduce us to some women who make scarfs and handicrafts. We got shown how to they make cotton, from picking it on the trees, to putting it through a roller to thin it out. The lady even asked if I would like a go, so I tried it out. It's a good work out for your arms. They also dye it with some natural fruit colours and then spin it, so it's like a ball of wool. We got to watch the ladies making scarfs too, they made it look so easy. I didn't buy anything, but Emma the Portuguese lady did. I do think we got taken here because the guide knows them. It was still an interesting short visit to get to know a little about village life in Laos.

We got driven back and dropped off near the hotel. We said we'd meet up with Corrine and Emma for dinner. We had a favourite little restaurant so went there. The food was delicious and I had a local curry dish with roti bread. I didn't realise at the time, but when we left the restaurant, I left my cardigan behind. We then went into the ice cream shop opposite to get some tasty ice creams. We sat in there chatting until they chucked us out at closing time.

The next day, we didn't really do much, except go and find out about buses to Vientiene. We asked at our hotel and it was quite expensive, so thought it would be a good idea to walk to town to check the prices. We went to the tourist information place and bumped into Louise in there. Just as we were about to ask about the buses, they were closing. So we couldn't book the buses. John said the bus station wasn't that far, so we should go there. I shouldn't have listened to him in this sweltering heat of the day. We started to walk and I was struggling to move. It was so hot that the tarmac had melted and my flip flop was sticking to the road! Eventually I made it to the bus terminal puffing and panting. We managed to book our bus ticket for 40,000 kip cheaper each, however as it was so hot, we decided to take a tuk tuk back. I couldn't face walking another 2km in the heat! Then we would need to take another tuk tuk in the morning to the station, so it wasn't much cheaper. That night after we'd recovered from walking in the heat, we went for dinner in a little restaurant overlooking the Mekong river. I tried a local Laos dish, which was actually quite good. John had a fish curry, which he also thought was excellent.