7-10 Luang Prabang, Laos - Day 1

I made the 2 hour flight in to Luang Prabang and dropped my bag off at the guesthouse Chris was staying at. Mike, Jeff, Chris, and Matt were all staying at different guesthouses. Mike, Jeff, and Matt flew in from Chiang Mai on different days, whereas Chris took a speed boat down the Mekong River. He said it was frightening and exhilarating to do 60mph in a skinny longtail boat loaded with 6 passengers, gear, and a huge engine mounted on the back. Sometimes they hit logs or other boats and crash, causing serious injuries and deaths. Chris says he'll never do it again, but loved it. I quickly checked my email and discovered that all the guys were headed to a popular tourist spot 40km up in the hills called Kwanxi Waterfalls. 30 minutes later I was pulling into the falls parking area, just as the guys were preparing to load back into their taxi sontao (a pickup truck with benches in back). They didn't recognize me with the helmet on so a quick smack to Chris's ass got their attention. They were all pretty happy to see me and insisted I walk up to the falls and take a quick swim.
It was 95*F/33*C out that day so a cold dip in the falls was a little piece of heaven. The falls were gorgeous, we could have stayed there all day, but the taxi was waiting and we were meeting Jeff for dinner. As I followed the pickup taxi back, Mike gnawed on a whole grilled fish while the others tried their best to lure me close enough to spray me with beer and water.
Luang Prabang is a sleepy little city of about 30,000, but tourism has definitely left it's mark. On the main drag, Sissavong Rd, it's nothing but shops catering to tourists and you can't walk more than 30 seconds without touts to buy something or take a taxi. The nice thing about the town is that it's a UNESCO World Heritage site so all the buildings are protected and are interesting. After cleaning up in Chris' room, it only took a 5 minute motorbike cruise around town for Chris and I to track down Jeff. He is a huge wanderer. We sat down with some cold beers at a bar & grill that was showing a movie (Blood Diamond) and we got some good Laotian cuisine such as salad with minced fish and also water buffalo stew. Everything was really good, although the buffalo was a bit tough. Being the long-lost member of the group, I was pressured into taking some shots of "lao-lao", which is the local drink of rice whisky. It's a mix between sake and gasoline from what I can tell. We all decided tonight would be a late one since we were all together and were taking the 2pm flight to Hanoi the next day. We walked across the street to a bar that was outdoors with no roof, just thick jungle overhead with flood lights. We were in the middle of a city, but it felt more like some kind of Swiss Family Robinson encampment; it was really cool. A few Beer Lao down the hatch along with some good laughs got us to 11pm, which was very late on Lao time. Most everyone in the city goes to bed early and wakes up in time to give alms to the Buddhist monks at 6am. It is a very old ritual in which those who wish to participate will gather in a line along a designated path. The monks get breakfast only from the gifts of food (alms) handed out to them in their bowls as they pass by. It's kinda like a daily trick-or-treat, but everyone is in the same orange costume. The basic food given is rice, but you can give anything. Many people give a variety of things so as to give them a nutritional breakfast. Thanks to laws that shut down business at 11pm, we were out on the streets. Luckily, the guys met a cool taxi driver the day before and he knew of a dance club that was open from 11pm to midnight. Yes, that's right, just one hour.
We arrived at the club and judging by the 300 motorbikes crammed out front, the entire young population of the city was there. It was 99 percent locals in a dimly lit club, playing a mix of American and Asian clubbing music. In Laos, it's difficult to dance with girls because they are raised to be very conservative and seemingly weary of outsiders. They are very shy and act more like girls in grade school. If a girl tries to dance with you, it's very likely it's not a girl at all!!! In fact, having TOO much fun in Laos can get you into serious trouble. Posted in guesthouses and in the back of restaurant menus were clear warnings: drug possession will get you the death penalty. Any "relations" with a Laotian national, and the two of you will go to prison and you'll get a $5,000 USD fine. I opted to stay off the dance floor but Matt, Jeff, and Chris had a great time dancing with each other and they were doing a good job embarrassing the shy Laotian girls. We later found that the reason this club could be open past curfew is that it's owned by the Chinese mafia, which has agreements with the cops. After an hour of goofing around, we took our pickup taxi to the only other place in town that's open late and thus also run by the mafia: The bowling alley! At $1.50 per game, it was a real deal. We were packed into the bowling alley with a few dozen other tourists and bowled until 3am.