Day 12: France in Laos (07/03/19)
The next stop of the trip was the buzzing Luang Prabang. Probably the most visited town in Laos, and for good reasons, as the beautiful French colonial style heritage mixed with the Lao culture makes it a unique place to be. Also, it is one of the few places in Asia in which walking down the street you can smell the delicious aroma of bakeries and handmade bread🥖.
The first day, I went solo-exploring the city and after some long hours of visiting temples under the sun, I found an organization (“little brother mouse”) that aims to distribute books to little Lao kids so they get a better education. It turns out that a huge part of the Lao population cannot read at all📖. Furthermore, recently they also open their own school and were looking for people to volunteer there.
The next morning I went with them again, and they took me to the outskirts of the city where they hosted more than 200 students. We played with the kids while teaching them some English, and some of the older ones tried to teach me how to ride a monocycle (obviously I failed🤦♂️).
To finish the day, I met with my French friends couple, we rented bikes and went to visit a buffalo farm. The owner follows a project in which they rent buffalos from local farmers to help ensure their long-term health through adequate natal care, vaccinations, and animal husbandry. And as a plus they make delicious cheese and ice-creams
DAY 14: Petanque and Waterfalls (09/03/19)
We jumped on our motorbikes and went to visit the iconic Kuang Si waterfalls🏞️ At the entry they had a protected playground area with rescued black bears🐻 and after a short hike we enjoyed a swim in the waterfalls. At some point at the top, I got stuck on a swing over a small lake and for your enjoyment I attached a video of my desperate attempts of going back to the ground🤦♂️
For the sunset, we drove to a small village in the outskirts of LP, where we were supposed to find a viewpoint. Instead we found a petanque place where some locals (that were supposed to be working at a hotel) asked us to join them and play some balls.
The next morning I visited the UXO museum, and my heart shrunk learning that Laos is the most bombed💣 country in the world, and that there are still many unexploded bombs around that kids confuse with toys and get their lives ruined.
We finished our last day in Luang Prabang visiting a handicrafts store where we learned how to make our own bracelets