LAOS - Luang Prabang - Part 3

The next day I woke up earlier than anyone else not knowing really the plan or if we were going to continue traveling together in our group. I got up to go sit in the common area where I had to wait till later when they served breakfast. Every day the free breakfast changes so it was eggs and baguettes this day. I waited for everyone else to get up but they never showed so I just planned my day out to go on a “temple walk”. I wanted to see all the sights in the town and discover all the temples. This day I didn’t rent a bike because I knew the whole temple walk could be done in a day on foot, saving money too. I started out and hit about 15 temples that day. My favorite was the one on top Mount Phusi. You had to climb this steep staircase to get to the top of this mountain where a temple was that overlooked the entire city. At the bottom of the climb tons of locals offered to sell a bird to you in a cage that you could set free at the top for good luck. It wasn’t hard at all but it was awesome to see the city with a 360-degree view. I walked down the other side where there was “Buddha's footprint”. This consisted of a natural rock imprint of a meter long foot imprint. It was considered very sacred to the natives and there was a little shrine built around it. At the bottom of this side was large golden statues of Buddha laying down and sitting. The trail led out into the backyard of a monk monastery which might have been me just bushwhacking into their yard… I felt invasive but it was cool to see the living corridors of the monks in this town. After I walked to the other side of the city I really enjoyed just people watching and the unique artistic impressions on the temples. They were so intricate in details and made of all sorts materials from stone to glass to gold. One temple was all red inside with tiny gold buddhas imprinted on all the walls and ceilings. I also loved the temples that had glass mosaics on the outside telling the story of Buddha. And there was never a dull moment in seeing the pound of gold molds carved into the buildings. It was a very hot day for sure and I basically survived off strawberry smoothies for every other street vendor. After I got back towards the main part of town I ended my trip by going into the museum of Laos where it was a castle where the king lived. I couldn’t take my camera in but it was very interesting. A lot of tourists were there and at one point I got knocked over by a herd of them. Further along, I got to walk through the street as they were setting up for the night market. I was creeping on the pastries this one guy had displayed just because I'm a baker and all... I then decided to go back to the hostel and see if anyone else was there and maybe wanted to get together for the night. Everyone was sitting around the common room table on their phones. I asked them what they did the whole day and they all just hung around the pool. When I heard this, I realized that all the people you see on social media that travel and take epic pictures sometimes aren't truly experiencing the culture. But I tried not to let that damper the rest of my evening. I knew I could always have a great time with these people even if we didn't have the same interests. I started talking with Domien, Ali, and Anaise about the potential of all going up to northern Laos in Nong Kiaw and Muang Noi together. The others wanted to make their way down to party central in Vang Vieng, but I figured I would get there eventually so there was no rush. We all wanted to do this 3-day hiking trip through the jungle to visit some indigenous villages far out there. But we didn't decide just yet because we wanted to talk with some people later that night about it. We then all walked into downtown to get some buffet dinner. We met up with Anaise's German friends and they had all planned on doing the hiking trip while we decided to buy bus tickets up North and just stay in hostels and do day hikes. We saw that it was going to be rainy weather and I had no gear for that so the safer bet was to stay in hostels. We went into some random tourist center to buy our bus tickets that would leave the next day.  During this time I was hanging out with Domien more because we had so many common thoughts about our travels. The table we sat at was so full with our growing group of people. Anamiek decided to get a drink finally and it turned out that it was the first time she was getting drunk this night! She was 25 years old and never got drunk. All the sudden she kept telling me she feels weird and she had never done that before. Wow haha. Well, there's a first for everything! I started talking with the 2 British boys and they discovered I had never had a jagger-bomb drink. I didn’t want to try it because I had no such taste for engird drinks, but of course, I should have known they never take no for an answer… So I split a drink with Anamiek who was really feeling it now. People at the table started getting antsy about where to go next and most of them decided on going to the bowling alley again. Meanwhile, I was working up a scheme to find a dancing club. I really wanted to dance. For too long. So I was in line in the bathroom near this local Laos lady.  I overheard her talking about a secret club for only locals that is a huge event. I butted in to ask if there was any chance of me getting in, and she agreed to sneak me in with a few others that wanted to join too. So, the Alaskan guy, 2 other guy travelers, the 2 British boys, Alli, and I came along in a truck to the club. Inside it was loud and full of lights, music, and dancing! I was so excited to be there and I went straight into the crowd to make my moves. We bought a few more drinks and the Alaskan guy really started to dance hard which was so unlike his quiet self. All around us were the local Lao men standing around oil drums and sharing a big Bao Lao (local beer) with scotch glasses. They seemed really tough and meanwhile, the British boys were taking their shirts off and grinding on each other. You could tell the locals were weirded out by the homosexuality. But I had the best time of my life. Just the group of us were dancing and singing our hearts out. Ali really got into the groove too. As I was dancing more towards the night with the local Laos girl that took us there, this really weird local girl was following me everywhere. She kept grabbing me and making moves on me which I tried to run away form because I was not interested at all. I then took a quick bathroom break which I must say was the worst bathroom experience ever. I went in and was immediately pushed around by 3 transgender Laos guys. I went into a broken stall were the walls were covering in blood and other body fluids. I was in and out as fast as possible. Back on the dance floor the guys really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Around 2 in the morning the people started to disperse and leave the dance floor. Slowly the night was coming to an end and we were all the last in the club to leave. We stumbled out the doors with the Laos lady and she was happy to help us find a truck ride back to the hostel. Before we left I insisted on taking a picture next to the mural painted on the wall because I felt super high off life and the wings of the mural took me to that level figuratively. We all hopped in the back of the truck and our night came to an end. It was a great last night in Luang Prabang. Tomorrow was a new adventure up to the forbidden and forgotten Northern Laos full of many surprises including land mines!