Cycling to Kouang Si Waterfalls

Wanting to beat the crowds of tour groups and day trippers, Ric and I rented mountain bikes and tackled the 35km trip to Kouang Si Waterfalls, southeast of Luang Prabang.

We set off in the cool morning light of 6am, just as the sky was turning from black to grey. The way to the falls is well signposted and we whizzed out of town along the main road, which is thankfully well paved.

The ride took us almost two and a half hours, with leisurely stops to drink water, eat bananas and gasp for breath along the way. On the way we passed several villages where the residents were giving alms to the monks, children were making their long journeys to school and the village men were preparing for their boat races. It’s amazing how much activity we usually miss by sleeping in until after eight!

The route was challenging, certainly for me, with a fair few hills to climb, and I was glad to have a bike with gears. Cycling through the valleys was very pleasant, with the Laos mist still hugging the green mountains around us.

Eventually, after a fair amount of sweat and almost a couple of tears, we arrived. We entered the falls and had the place to ourselves. The falls start with a thundering 60m drop before cascading down through several different levels where it is possible to swim in the freezing blue water. As we were visiting at the end of the rainy season the water level was high and the park staff had had to dam off some areas with tree trunks and sand bags to stop the whole area from flooding. 

Swimming in the natural swimming pools was wonderfully refreshing after our long bike ride. Ric had fun climbing up rocks and trees to bomb into the pools whilst I relaxed in the shade, fighting off man eating fish! The pools are full of little fish that like to nibble your feet, the same kind they have in the ‘fish massage’ spas. I can’t comprehend why anyone would pay to have those fish eat your skin; the feeling is like a mild electric shock, horrible!

Next to the falls is a bear rescue centre. The two bears found in this part of the world, the Asian Black Bear and the Sun Bear, are at risk from so many threats. The bears are kept as pets, they are made to dance and are paraded around as tourist attractions, they are poached by the Chinese for their bile which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The local people are also a threat; they believe that bears bring you strength and we have seen bear paws marinating in rice whiskey for the local men to drink and become strong. The centre rescues and rehabilitates the bears in a natural setting, releasing them back in to the wild when possible.

Once we were done swimming, exploring and looking at bears, we ate some lunch and made our way back to town. Whilst Ric powered on to cycle the whole 70km round trip, I chose not to fry in the midday sun and hitched a ride with an American couple in a tuk-tuk, bike and all!

It was definitely worth the early start and the lengthy ride to have the waterfalls to ourselves, it’s a beautiful spot.

How To Get To…

Kouang Si Falls:

A mountain bike costs 50,000kip ($6.25/£4) from Luang Prabang. Follow the signs heading southeast out of town, and check out this great map.

A private tuk-tuk will cost you 200,000 ($25/£15) for up to eight people.

Organised tours are 50,000kip per person but don’t leave until 11am, the busiest time of day.

Pokhara, My Piece of Paradise

After a hectic, sweaty month in India, followed by two weeks trekking in rudimentary conditions in Nepal, I was really in need of some relaxation by the time we arrived in Pokhara, and luckily for me, Pokhara was the perfect spot. 

View over Lakeside Pokhara, from the World Peace Pagoda

At the foot of the Annapurna mountain range, with possibly the best panoramic view on Earth, it's hard not to feel at ease in Pokhara. We found ourselves a really nice hotel with a balcony in the touristy, "Lakeside" neighborhood, just 5 minutes walk from Lake Fewa. Although a undeniable tourist trap (no culture here), Lakeside had top restaurants, chilled out bars and 5 hour-long happy hours, plus all the shops a girl could ever need. After two weeks of eating basic mountain food (carbs, carbs, carbs), we went all out and ate like kings; steaks, Thai food, pizzas, lush salads and kebabs all round!

STEAK!!!

One night, after a huge meal and a couple of 2-for-1 cocktails, we were heading home for an early night when we noticed some commotion going on at the back of our hotel.  It turned out to be a staff party for one of the lad's 22nd birthday. They welcomed us to join them and plied us with alcohol for the rest of the night. 

When we weren't too busy reading in a deck chair, or playing cards over a frozen lemon mint juice, we did manage to get out of the area and explore a bit. We hired bikes and cycled around the lake through numerous little villages until the lake became a river. Finding a secluded spot, we locked up the bikes and went in for a dip. The water was cool and refreshing but our secluded swim didn't stay secluded for long; no less than ten local villagers came to have a look at the strange tourists swimming in their river, sitting on the bank intently, and making me all too aware that I was swimming in my knickers!!

Bike ride.

We also hired a rowing boat early one morning and went out on the lake to admire the snowy peaks that frame the skyline. As we were there at the end of the monsoon, the mountains were covered in cloud most of the day, but first thing in the morning before the clouds settled, we got some good glimpses of the peaks.

Captain Ric.

Further indulging our relaxation, we treated ourselves to a Thai massage. With our muscles still aching from the hike, the masseuse was brutally rough with us, pummeling our tender flesh so hard I had tears in my eyes - far from relaxing!

At the end of our week in Pokhara we left the busy tourist area and went to stay at the end of the town at Freedom Cafe, where we had our own little hut right on the Lake. Spending most of our mornings slung in our hammocks in front of the hut, reading, was bliss. Even when the weather took a turn for the worse, and our hut proved not to be waterproof, it didn't bother us. We sat under our veranda and watched the storm roll in across the lake. 

Chilling outside our hut at Freedom Cafe.

Stormy sunset over Lake Fewa.

We spent six days idling away the time and enjoying the pleasant weather. I even got a filling done at a very questionable dentist-cum-pharmacy. The cut-price dental work didn't last long though, and two weeks on I'm once again in need of a dentist! 
Our time in Pokhara felt like a holiday away from the "stresses" of travelling. It was a very relaxing, indulgent week and it's definitely up there among my top favourite places in the world. None the less, six days of doing nothing was enough, and we were happy to get on our way to Kathmandu, and then on to India for round two of cows, traffic and mayhem. 

Local fishermen on the lake.

Swimming in Korea (again)

Six months on, now that we're savy to Korea's love of excessive pubic hair, we decided to give swimming in Korea another bash. After all, it's something we enjoyed doing every week back home in England, and we sure need the exercise.

The first time we went swimming in Korea was on a Saturday and it was heinously busy, so this time round we thought we'd try a Tuesday. We went to Cheonan Sports Complex straight after work. 

We bought swimming caps and goggles, all ready to assimilate, although I hadn't committed to buying a wet suit style bathing suit yet, they're so expensive (and not to mention ridiculous). First time round, I recall feeling disgustingly uncomfortable in my two piece bikini; Korea is still a very conservative country and they general public certainly weren't prepared see my white western skin flouncing around their pool. So today I wore one of Ric's football shirts. Loads of people were wearing t-shirts last time so I thought I was doing a good thing by covering my wobbly bits.

However... Unlike Saturdays, Tuesday nights are not family swimming nights. The damn pool was full of swimmers seemingly training for the next Olympics! I was immediately chastised for wearing my t-shirt and I think the life guard would have kicked me out of the pool had there not have been a substantial language barrier.

The huuuuge pool was once again over crowded beyond belief and I was subject to many stares and disapproving looks. 

I can swim fine, but I'm not very fast, I don't like getting my head under the water and I hate swallowing the water. Essentially, I swim like a granny. In our over crowded lane I made sure to set off swimming when there was no one behind me, but the Koreans are like torpedoes, they'd swim up to my ankles and passively aggressively bully me into stopping to let them over take. I felt like everyone was watching me, judging me.

It was intense. No leisurely after work swim for me. The pool is Olympic sized (50m), pools in England are not that long. It was hard for me to keep pace with the Koreans and I felt so uncomfortable. Everyone there was so serious; one girl even had a snorkel!! A snorkel in the swimming baths, I've never heard of anything so absurd in my life!

I lasted maybe half an hour before running back to the changing area for some comfort. Who'd have thought it, the room full of naked Korean women with ginormous bushes is now where I feel most comfortable. But even that was an ordeal.

The changing room was so crowded that every shower was occupied. People were queuing at each shower waiting for it to become available. When I finally found myself some space to shower in, a woman decided to stand behind me (naked, of course), put her things down in front of me, and stand an inch away from me whilst I showered. Silently bullying me with her nakedness to hurry up. PASSIVE AGGRESSIVENESS GONE MAD!!!! 

Once again, I'm traumatised by swimming in Korea. I'm glad I gave it a second chance, but NEVER, EVER AGAIN!!!!!!

Swimming in Korea

Swimming in Korea was the most awkward experience of my entire life. I have never, ever, made so many faux pas in such a short space of time.

On Saturday me and Ric walked half an hour out of town to find ‘Cheonan Sports Complex’ – a huge area containing the city’s football stadium, volleyball stadium and an Olympic swimming pool. We thought it would be nice to go swimming as we went regularly back home.

We were doing well, we’d found the pool, managed to pay (£2.50 for both of us) and were all ready to swim, only when we got into the changing rooms things got weird.

First of all, everybody was naked. People were blow drying their hair – naked, chatting to their pals – naked, talking on the phone – naked, showering – naked, weighing themselves – naked! I had wondered whether it would be possible to get a wax done here in Cheonan – not anymore!!! Korean women definitely favour the natural look!

Once I recovered from the shock of walking in on a 70’s porno I quickly got changed and headed towards the pool, only to be stopped by a naked woman who told me “no cap no swim” and pointed to her head. After getting dressed again, going to reception, going to the swimwear shop and almost making a phone call to the absent shop owner from a Korean pensioner’s mobile, I found a lifeguard who told me “boyfriend two cap” – Ric had found me a swimming cap and was waiting in the pool.

Now I’ve never worn a swimming cap before in my life; nor have I ever tried to squeeze my particularly large head into a condom but I now realise the two are the same. As soon as I started swimming it pinged off and nearly took out a child’s eye.

Swimming cap adjusted, I realised that not only was I the only 6ft tall western woman among the 300 people in the pool, I was also the only woman wearing a bikini. All the other women were much more modestly covered up; costumes, t-shirts and shorts!!! Now that’s embarrassing.

At first I wondered why no one was actually swimming in the pool so big I couldn’t see one side from the other, but I soon learnt that in Korean swimming baths you can only swim for 50 minutes at a time. Then you have to sit at the side and have a rest for ten minutes. Public safety.

Additionally, the water was 50% chlorine 50% bleach, it stung my skin and eyes. The Koreans swim to one end of the lane and then queue at the other before setting off again.

We were both cringing so much that we barely lasted half an hour before getting out and re-entering the chamber of bush to get dressed and run home in shame.

Dressing I made yet another massive blunder. After showering (not naked) I went over to my locker to get dry and dressed again, only once I was there I realised that everything and everyone around me was bone dry – I was the only wet person by the lockers and I was leaving a big puddle everywhere I went. You’re supposed to get naked and dry yourself with everybody else in the communal drying area! Could have been worse though – Ric did exactly the same only he had a group of little children tugging at the towel around his waist and trying to shoo him back into the drying area.

I wont be in any hurry to go swimming again in Korea!!!