And I really mean that. Coconuts for three days. I was with two ladies from the yoga retreat I went to in Cambodia. We met up in Vietnam and crosses the border together. At some point we were all talking about the copious amounts of caffeine, baguettes and other Vietnamese goodies we had been consuming like we might never see them again. A couple people at the yoga retreat did coconut fasts. But why do that when you've already paid for delicious vegan food. (Yeah, I did just say that.) So we decided to welcome ourselves to Luang Prabang with a three day coconut water fast.
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| Snapped a quick pic of these two ladies having a very serious chat at a festival at a pagoda we visited. |
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| Sunset from a hilltop pagoda. |
How did it go? I can't say this was some miraculous experience that's going to start me preaching on the benefits of fasting. I want to work in some shorter fasts because it's good for your metabolism, but I spent a decent part of the three days moderately hungry, tired, and talking about food I wanted to eat. For dinner on the second and third days I got mango/pineapple juice because I could feel my blood sugar dipping near-fainting levels. The last half of day three I actually felt pretty good. Maybe my body was adjusting? Or maybe it knew it was getting phenomenal noodle soup in the morning for breakfast. Who knows.
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| Almsgiving |
Anyway, aside from the plethora of coconuts, we found a great place to get massages and spent the time wandering around the city. I kept hearing and reading repeatedly about how amazing Luang Prabang was and how I'd quickly fall in love. I can't say the city lived up to those words in my mind. It felt very touristy and in a somewhat expensive way. One of the highlights was a half an hour or so that we spent talking to a few Lao university students. This has happened to me in Vietnam also, and I'm always happy to stop and chat. They have the guts to come up to complete strangers and ask for just a few minutes of their time to practice their English. Awesome. It seems like they consistently know more about aspects of the US (like the presidents) than I do. And they are always more than happy to answer questions about their own country.
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| University students from around Laung Prabang |
After doing a backpacking trip last year to a part of the Grand Canyon filled with gorgeous waterfalls, I haven't seen many that have caught my eye quite as much as those ones. But outside Luang Prabang there's a waterfall that's definitely up there on my list. Clear blue water and multi-level falls really make photography so easy at Kuang Si. It's really hard not to get an amazing shot if you point the camera in the correct general direction. It was also quite fun to climb up to the top and explore around there. Can't say I recommend steep uphill climbs while in the middle of a coconut fast though.
At the end of our coconut fast we stuffed our faces with amazing noodle soup and hopped on a bus down to
Vang Vieng, an old backpacker party spot until 2012 when the government cracked down on the area.
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| Luang Prabang |
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| It's not related... but come on. So good. |
