Second day, second waterfall. This time Kuang Si Falls, Luang Prabang's largest, over 300 ft. at the summit. After collecting twenty new friends and engaging in some furious negotiation, the Treehouse Seven has chartered its own slowboat to visit the falls.
On the way up the falls, we pass a wildlife reserve housing thirty black bears, which would seem to be more at home in the Adirondacks than Central Laos. The bears roam a large pen where they dance, hug one another, play on tire swings, and recline in hammocks. Funny, that's quite similar to my past month.
The bottom of the falls is an emerald green pool with enough rope swings and cliff jumping points to occupy an entire afternoon. I swing about a half dozen times, each jump getting more and more elaborate. By the end I'm beginning to think I'm Tarzan. During my final jump, however, I get a bit too fancy and the rope ends up returning to whip me across the face. So maybe I should be a tad more humble.
Chris and I climb to the top of the falls, getting progressively faster as our excitement rises with the ascent. We reach the top, 300 feet up, and try to make out our friends down below. We stand behind a rickety wooden gate at the highest point, our toes gracing the edge, cold mist in our faces. Frigid water rushes past our feet, beckoning us below. As it passes beyond the falls' edge, we can hear the water thundering onto the ground below, which is barely visible from such a high altitude.
Jumping down would probably break every bone in one's body. I ponder taking the plunge, but remember I realized a similar sensation two months ago on my last day of work. The fall was unplanned and the push came from behind, with a quick twist of a sharp dagger.
***
Upon returning from the falls, the Treehouse Seven spends one final night together eating Mekong River Fish and drinking Beer Laos before splitting up the following morning. We say goodbye amidst tears, promising we will reunite in a couple weeks in Cambodia or Bangkok. The farewell is bittersweet, as the memory of our group will live on forever in our dreams and in the snake and vermin-infested treehouse that we called home for those precious three days.
Note: Some photos from Jen and Teresa
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