October 1st is a nationally recognized holiday in China called National Day where the majority of people have off work for an entire week. This week is usually spent traveling around China, seeing new sights or going home to spend time with family. According to China Daily, they expected 210 million people to be traveling around China during this week. 210 million people! My roommate and I looked at each other once we heard that and confirmed that we were getting out of China for National Day.
We looked at our options and decided to head to Laos since it borders Yunnan and we could take a bus straight there. So the night before National Day, September 30th, we hopped on a sleeper bus and headed to Laos. 26 hours later, we arrived dazed and confused in Luang Prabang, Laos’ second largest city.
Over the next four days we enjoyed a relaxful vacation filled with kayaking, swimming, hiking, eating and lounging. We kayaked to one of Luang Prabang's famous waterfalls where we swam in the cool, refreshing water and enjoyed the sun. Myself and two other friends went zip-lining through the forest above the waterfalls. I saw some great scenery and got my thrills from flying through the air high above the trees. Another day, we took a boat ride down the Mekong River to explore some caves with ancient Buddhist statues inside. The Mekong River is a widely known river within southeast Asia, as it flows through China, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Luang Prabang is also well known for their Buddhist wats (temples). There are over 30 around the city, making them unavoidable. One morning we got up early to observe the monks collecting their morning alms and food. The monks spend their days meditating and taking care of the temple, they do not have time to buy and cook their own food, so the town’s people provide their only source of food in the morning. The majority of these monks are boys aging from 10-25 who stay in the monastery for only a short time.
Laos was reopened to tourism in 1989 and Luang Prabang was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage sight in 1995, thus leaving the city mostly bus/car free and preserving its French provincial architecture. Laos is known for its laid back attitude and we easily fell into the mood while we were there. We enjoyed French baguets and freshly made fruit shakes, a much enjoyed break from Chinese food.
Our bus ride back to Kunming was only about 20 hours. We returned safetly with many souvenirs and a new stamp in our passports.
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