Barbara standing under a huge (yuge?) Colocasia (Elephant ear).
One feature that we hadn't counted on (but makes sense due to the rain the previous day) was the leeches. Sheri found one on her hand which Toby promptly removed. Upon arrival at the picnic area at the other end of the trail, a number of folks found that they had passengers. I had one on my left ankle that had latched onto me through my sock. There was a second bite, but I'm guessing it was the same critter. Hung dabbed the bites with alcohol and iodine, but the bleeding continued until all the anticoagulants in the leech saliva bleed out. Jonathan also had a couple of bites which soaked his sock with blood.
When I was taking off my hiking boots to see what we were dealing with bite-wise, we found another leech on the exterior of the boot looking for a meal. It looked like a somewhat long inchworm probing for a suitable site to latch on (although it wasn't going to get much from the boot).
After refreshment and leech first-aid, we piled into a couple of pick-up trucks and minivan to go to the waterfall that is fed by the springs at the picnic area. Turns out the muddy slope of the road out of the picnic area proved too much for the minivan full of walkers, who then had to evacuate the vehicle and walk to the top of the slope. The guides managed to push the minivan past the slick spot so it also reached the top of the hill where half the occupants reboarded. Julie, Audra, and Barbara joined Hung and me in the bed of the 4WD pick-up truck — it had no problem with that slick spot. The challenge was that the driver was speeding down this dirt road with multiple bumps and and there was no padding (except our own) to absorb the shocks. It felt a bit like a cross between Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and the Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster at Disneyland. Eventually we returned to pavement and the ride smoothed out.
Barbara standing under a huge (yuge?) Colocasia (Elephant ear).
Butterfly.
A different angle on the butterfly.
Jonathan pressing a cotton ball soaked in iodine alcohol on his leech bite.
The site that I'm pressing was occupied by the leech, the bite close to my heel did not have an occupant.
The minivan was not the best vehicle for a muddy slope.
The guides had to push it after all the passengers had gotten out and walked to the top of the hill.
One of my boots after a day on a muddy trail.
Hung seems to be enjoying the bumpy ride back into town.
Bacon Sausage?!?!! Why didn't we stop to get a sample?!?
Our picnic tables lined up at the base of the falls.
The view downstream of the falls.
Evidence! Unfortunately I didn't get the menu.
The beer Jonathan and I shared.
Jonathan on the footbridge at the base of the falls.
Alan taking a snap for another English speaking couple. Sheri tries not to photobomb.
Jonathan joing in on examining the results. Or was it camera envy?
The paved road took us to the K’uang Si Waterfall Park where we had an excellent lunch laid out within sight of the waterfall.
We were in what seemed to be a procession of vans and cars back into Luang Prabang as the skies cleared even more for some nice light and shadows on the mountains as we descended back into town.
After performing a tick check on each other for any residual leeches, washing the mud and blood off our socks and lower pants legs, we both took showers and repaired to the hotel bar to catch up on journals.
For dinner we bussed over to the Coconut Tree restaurant where we were seated upstairs overlooking both the front patio and the back courtyard lit with festive lanterns. The yellow curry was especially tasty with a light kick and I sampled it a couple more times.
We walked back two the hotel through the night market where's there were a lot of similar stuff for sale. We were late off the trail and thus late from the restaurant so it was closing time in the market and the vendors were busily closing up shop.
Keng Kalampi — clear soup with diced pork meat and cabbage.
Gwen gets her dinner.
Jonathan and Julie.
Khoua Phak Saille Nammanhoil — Sautéed of vegetables with oyster sauce.
Keng Kurry Saille Khai — Chicken curry with onion, carrot, potato and coconut milk.
Jaew Mac Lenn — Concassee of tomato and grilled chili.
Niam Salad Luangprabang — Luang Prabang Salad.
Khao Chao — Sticky rice.
Mok Pa Nin — Steamed tiliapia fish and a lot kind of herbs cooked in a banana leaf.
Strings of lanterns for sale at the night market.
Gwen examining some goods.
Oh lordy - the holidays come early in Laos too!
More lanterns.
A vender of woven goods.
Naga - serpent diety.
Naga - side view.
