Last Day in Laos

Sadly we left Laos yesterday leaving a sizable bit of our hearts behind. Special memories include riding elephants across a broad and deep river and feeding the gentle beasts afterwards. Robert and Daniel each chose to ride their elephant just behind the ears, clinging to the neck with their legs just as a mahout would do.  The kids loved the elephants, one of which was 14 months pregnant (only 8 more months to go!) There are world class waterfalls in Laos. We visited the Kuang Si Falls near Luang Prabang which are a series of falls each cascading into aqua blue pools below, many of which you could swim in as little fish "massaged" your feet. Actually they are nibbling and sucking on your dried and flacky skin. Soon the whole family was immersed in two of these pools in this exotic tropical setting where the water was cold and refreshing and the kids could jump over one of the falls into the pool below. We reluctantly left to catch a sunset cruise in a small boat on the Mekong River where we could see villagers growing crops on the sandbars now that the river was lower during the dry season. Looking to the 30-40 foot cliffs on both sides, we could see far above us the high water marks left by the river during the wet monsoon season. We motored upstream and then drifted with the current while we nibbled on snacks and refreshments (not dried skin) in perhaps one of the most peaceful and relaxing moments on our trip. We had the best of hosts.  Our friends made us feel right at home and took us everywhere to experience the beauty, culture and, best of all, the gentle and loving Lao people. On our last night, just to make sure we were totally hooked, they took us to an all you can eat Korean BBQ where they provided both a grill at your table and a staffed grill busily preparing Korean marinated boneless ribs and scallion pancakes for a total cost per person of only $4.00!! It would have been easily $30.00+ per person in Korea. I couldn't help but notice the hoards of Korean tourists brought in by tour buses with the same cravings we had. Before boarding our overnight sleeper train the next day we managed to eat more cold watermelon, fried bananas and fried chicken with homemade fries that could put KFC out of business. As we waived good bye, our sadness was lessened somewhat by a strong feeling we would be back.