LUANG PRABANG, LAOS
There are a number of scenic waterfalls in the countryside near Luang Prabang, but according to everyone we've talked to, two in particular stand out above the rest. The first, Tat Kuang Si, we visited two days ago. And the second is Tat Sae, which we decided to see today.
To get there we had to first hire a sawgthaew to drive us 30 minutes out of town. Then we paid a boatman to take us on a canoe-like motorboat another five minutes down the Nam Khan River until we could see the white water of the falls emptying out of the forest. He then let us out on the bank and we climbed some stairs into the woods, where we came to the main part of the waterfall.
Sure enough, these falls were just as spectacular as Kuang Si--but very different in appearance. Instead of one long cascade, Tat Sae is composed of dozens, if not hundreds, of flat limestone terraces descending through the jungle toward the river, with tons of water rushing over them. The falls are punctuated by large trees growing up through the terraces, so it's really a waterfall and a shaded forest at the same time--very unique-looking! There are some large pools there for swimming, too, but I didn't bring my bathing suit, so I just took off my shoes and waded along the edges of the terraces in foot-deep water.
Next to the falls was a sign pointing out a trail through the jungle, which Chris and I followed to a nearby cave. The cave mouth was only three or four feet high, but you could duck inside to find a living-room sized chamber, empty except for a few big daddy-long-legs. In fact, this area seemed to be a mecca for all sorts of creepy-crawlies: We also came across a number of snails, an army of ants attacking an earthworm, some big spiders, and a giant orange millipede eight or ten inches long.
After returning to town, I took a walk along the river from our guesthouse to the city's most famous royal temple, Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560 on the peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The exterior of the main sanctuary is decorated with a colorful "tree of life" mosaic, and the interior contains a shrine with a large golden Buddha statue. Inside a nearby chapel there's a giant wooden funeral chariot with carved nagas (serpents) in the front and a large cremation urn which once held the bodies of Lao monarchs. Pretty cool.
There are a number of scenic waterfalls in the countryside near Luang Prabang, but according to everyone we've talked to, two in particular stand out above the rest. The first, Tat Kuang Si, we visited two days ago. And the second is Tat Sae, which we decided to see today.
To get there we had to first hire a sawgthaew to drive us 30 minutes out of town. Then we paid a boatman to take us on a canoe-like motorboat another five minutes down the Nam Khan River until we could see the white water of the falls emptying out of the forest. He then let us out on the bank and we climbed some stairs into the woods, where we came to the main part of the waterfall.
Sure enough, these falls were just as spectacular as Kuang Si--but very different in appearance. Instead of one long cascade, Tat Sae is composed of dozens, if not hundreds, of flat limestone terraces descending through the jungle toward the river, with tons of water rushing over them. The falls are punctuated by large trees growing up through the terraces, so it's really a waterfall and a shaded forest at the same time--very unique-looking! There are some large pools there for swimming, too, but I didn't bring my bathing suit, so I just took off my shoes and waded along the edges of the terraces in foot-deep water.
Next to the falls was a sign pointing out a trail through the jungle, which Chris and I followed to a nearby cave. The cave mouth was only three or four feet high, but you could duck inside to find a living-room sized chamber, empty except for a few big daddy-long-legs. In fact, this area seemed to be a mecca for all sorts of creepy-crawlies: We also came across a number of snails, an army of ants attacking an earthworm, some big spiders, and a giant orange millipede eight or ten inches long.
After returning to town, I took a walk along the river from our guesthouse to the city's most famous royal temple, Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560 on the peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The exterior of the main sanctuary is decorated with a colorful "tree of life" mosaic, and the interior contains a shrine with a large golden Buddha statue. Inside a nearby chapel there's a giant wooden funeral chariot with carved nagas (serpents) in the front and a large cremation urn which once held the bodies of Lao monarchs. Pretty cool.
posted by John Kuge at 6:07 PM
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