It’s 8:30am and I’m up, fresh as a daisy. The waterfalls are pounding out my front window, and the day is not yet too hot for a bout of yoga on my view-tastic porch.

I spread my legs on the shiny tile floor below me and lean my torso to the left. The white-capped water pours underneath the long, rickety old bridge that allows us passage to the most interesting bits of the Bolaven Plateau, Laos’ little-visited natural wonder.  

The view from our balconey

My stomach grumbles to remind me it’s time for breakfast. I saunter over to the kitchen, keen to place my order for a bread and vegetable omelet (I had it yesterday, and it was delicious!), but the one server who speaks English is currently occupied. “Come back later,” is the message I’m told through the confused girl’s eyes.

I continue to stretch out my body, and return in a few minutes to find someone who is able to take my order. I am going to need my nutrients today – we’ve booked a four-hour trek around the plateau to see three waterfalls and four villages.

~

The trek is pretty cool – though sketchy at times when our guide gets lost, and when I walked through a human-sized animal trap and he doesn’t tell me what it was until later. The mud is deep and squishy, but we wash off our feet in the flowing river. We grab at rice husks as we pass by them, and chomp on them as we trudge through the fields.

The sky is relatively cloudy, which was a nice break from the sun.

Still, it is amazing to see the children in the villages, who smile and wave at us, calling out “Sabadi!” (hello).  

Our guide entertains us with tales of his experiences with foreigners, like the time he wanted to point out honey in a tree to a group, but he couldn’t remember the word for honey, only that honey comes on pancakes, so he pointed upwards to the bee’s nest and said “pancake!”. They thought it was funny.

By the time we get home, I decide I am exhausted and much in need of a Lao traditional massage. After my shower, that is.

Comments

Add New Search

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."