My choice of cafe this morning was just down the street at Le Petit Prince cafe. I can't believe I missed this place the first couple days here. It has a French name, Italian coffee, and Korean food in Laos. I like a globally aware cafe. The bacon, egg, tomato, avocado (BETA) sandwich wasn't anything special. I like the honey, dijon mustard sauce on it, but the avocados were underripe. The iced Americano was great though.
Back at the crib, I learned how to start and operate the motorbike rental. I'm glad this was an automatic, so I didn't have to think too much. The ride up to Kuang Si waterfall took about 50 minutes. I had a blast snaking around the curves while driving through the mountains of Laos. There were many potholes and loose gravel spots, but this just made the ride into a video game of sorts. I also enjoyed passing all the tour buses. Maybe next time I'll take a motorbike up Vietnam like the Top Gear guys.
Kuang Si is a gorgeous waterfall. It almost looks fake because of the way the water falls over the brown limestone rock mounds, as if someone crafted it for a theme park. Both sides of the waterfall have steps leading up to the top. I took the right side up. These steps were loosely cut out from the mountain. I almost lost my footing a few times. After this fairly long and strenuous hike, I was rewarded with a swim area made from the water that feeds the falls. The water was refreshingly cold.
Following the swim, I descended the mountain on the left side with metal stairs. Down below the falls were a couple of swimming holes. I had to show off a bit and do a back flip off a tree stump as my entrance. I loved the vibrant turquoise color of the water made from the limestone.
On the return trip, I touched the trunk of a chained elephant. I don't feel good about it. It definitely didn't seem like a wildlife sanctuary. I know tourists like me stopping here will only keep it in business, but this was my first time seeing an elephant up close. I'll have to visit a sanctuary in Chiang Mai to right my wrongs.
The best part of the bike ride back was the roadside cafe I stopped at. This place had wood huts out in the middle of a beautiful rice field. Drinking a coconut latte freeze and eating a pain au chocolat while overlooking the rice field had me blissed out. This really felt like a slice of heaven.
I also caught a glimpse of the Mekong river out here. The river looked beautifully massive.
For dinner, I was ferried across the river to a Laotian restaurant on the other side. In retrospect, I could have skipped the sketchy boat ride and found my way via motorbike instead. I ate more spicy papaya salad, Mok Pa (aka Lao Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves), and mango sticky rice. This was a fantastic dinner, one of the better ones on this trip. The fish was pleasantly moist and full of herbs. I liked the coconut flavor in the sticky rice.
After dinner, I scootered around Luang Prabang some more looking for a late night coffee shop. Unfortunately, Luang Prabang doesn't seem to have any cafes open late until 11 pm or 12 am like Highlands Coffee in Vietnam. I already miss Vietnamese coffee.