Not everything we saw was in Luang Prabang, we took some time to visit the areas surrounding with included waterfalls, villages, and caves.
Pak Ou Caves
Our first organized outing started with a river cruise to some local villages and then to the Pak Ou (4000 buddha) caves.
We chose a less touristy company hoping to avoid the crowds. The tour itself was well organized and the guides were really nice, but we still ended up being disappointed with all the hype around the Pak Ou Caves. The cave itself is really small.. it has many Buddha statues inside but for the most part they're all
small and nondescript - standard buddha statues
that one might even see in a souvenir shop. Despite its spiritual history and claims to many famous visitors, to us the site felt more like a tourist trap than spiritual destination.
Mekong River Cruise
To go to the Pak Ou Cave, we had to do a 3 hour cruise on the Mekong river….and that was really good: Super scenic, beautiful, and relaxing!!
Paper & Whisky Villages
The Pak Ou Cave tour included stops at 3 villages: a standard/small/non-touristy village, a whisky village (where they make local whisky), and a paper village (where they make…. paper)… neither of us has much else to say about the villages.. here are the pics:
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So…it's at this point in our travels where we've begun to wonder if we've just visited too many "remote" villages and temples to fully appreciate and be wowed by them anymore…)
Kuang Xi Waterfall
One day, we also rented a motorbike and set out to find the Kuang Si waterfall. Biking out on your own is by far the best way to discover Laos and the country side. As you ride, you can stop anywhere you want and just admire the beautiful surroundings… it was a nice and enjoyable day :)
Apparently many asians covet bear bile for "medicinal" purposes, so these asian black bears are often captured and kept in tiny cages so that their bile can be harvested. Near the waterfall, we visited a bear sanctuary where they rescue and protect these cute, endangered, asian black-bears from poachers.