I woke up early just after 6 which was too late for the alms ceremony but I decided to see a few things in town before breakfast. I went first to the temple nearby which normally costs 10k entry but it wasn't open yet and I could see the outside of the buildings including the stupa anyway. I went further and came to another temple also closed with an entry fee. I decided to see another one a bit further out to save time for the rest of the day and there was a statue of president Kaysone Phomvihane and then a temple next to it which again charges but wasn't open yet. I wasn't really liking Luang Prabang there was little special and they charged for so much. I went back to the hostel and tried to book a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi while having breakfast but the website kept crashing on the payment screen. I paid for another night at the hostel and as they didn't rent bikes I went looking for one. It was a bit of a walk and took me to places I'd walked past earlier so really I should have got the bike then and saved time. The first place wanted 20k for some fairly basic bikes so I went to another place and it was the same price. She also wouldn't let me have the basic bike to go to the waterfall and said I needed the 50k a day mountain bike which also would mean I'd have to wear my rucksack the whole day. I was losing time and had a lot I wanted to see so I went back to the first place but he wouldn't rent me the bike without a passport. I walked further down the road and came to the tourist information centre where I found out the royal palace is open until 11 and the closes for lunch and opens again from 1.30 to 4pm. They also told me where to rent a bike so I walked that way which was further along the same road and got a fairly crappy yellow bike for 20k and left my driving licence. I probably should have gone to the palace first but I headed to the Kung Si waterfall which maps.me told me was 2 hours away so I would get there at 11, maybe leave at 1 and get back at 3 to see the palace and then go to the other waterfall. I headed off and it was fairly flat and I stopped at a closed temple which meant I checked the map as I added it and discovered I'd just gone the wrong way, lucky I didn't go further. I went back the right way and the cycle climbed uphill a fair bit with a downhill bit which I would have to face on the way back. I didn't stop even though there was a sign for mulberry berries (department of redundancy department) and a dead snake, which defeats the bike purpose a bit as I could have got a tuk tuk to the waterfall and back for 40k. Still I was getting exercise and I could leave the waterfall whenever I wanted. I arrived at 10.45, ahead of schedule on a crappy hire bike, I was a cycling machine, super cycling man II even. I left the bike somewhere avoiding the 1k charge and paid the 20k entry. The path went through a bear sanctuary which had some black asian bears that gad been rescued and there were a lot of volunteers helping out. I took a few pictures before carrying on and reached the bottom waterfall which was a small drop and there were people swimming. I decided to go up and then swim when I came back down. There were several stages and I left my shoes at one after going in the water for a photo. I reached the place which had the view I'd seen in pictures online and luckily there were not many people around. I carried on to see what was above and was surprised that there was a large waterfall further up where lots of tourists were. There was also a path up so I went there and it was a steep climb but my tired legs were still up for the challenge. At the top there were a few people swimming in pools but this was where I'd read there were leeches so I was careful walking around. There was not much to see as there were trees ad barriers stopping a good photo of the waterfall and even then they never look good from the top so it was a bit of a waste of time. I went back down managing not to slip and got changed into trunks and went into one, two and three pools. The water was cold but I felt refreshed and I got changed and left past all the bear volunteers having their lunch. I stopped at a nearby butterfly place and I'd seen quite a few dead butterflies on the way up so they may have come from there. It looked ok but for 40k and with the rush I was in I moved on. The road back was much easier with more downhill and the hill didn't seem to come, maybe someone had flattened it. Then I got to the 7km to Luang Prabang sign and the hill was there and I couldn't make it so I stopped and had a snack. My diet was cakes, biscuits, bananas and peanuts so far. After the hill I enjoyed a few minutes of freewheeling and the got back into town for 2pm. I got a 20k ticket for the palace museum and saw the small golden buddha in the temple first which you can see for free. The museum required shoes off and bags in a locker and didn't allow photos. There were lots of rules not something I like and I had to walk in one direction. I got round and saw the main throne room I had missed but they wouldn't let me cut back through so I stomped all the way back round to see it, at least they let me cut through after that. I finished the museum and biked to a few temples which were all fairly similar, you've seen 100 temples, you've seen 101 came into my head as there had been a lot on this trip. I went back to the hostel for some water and a check of my email and there was nothing from Georgia the girl who'd bused it to Hanoi so I emailed her again. I headed to the other waterfall and briefly visited the UXO place (Unexploned ordinance - bombs) which closed at 4pm, but it wasn't so big and there were no videos. I continued and went past a supermarket and the minibus station and had to go onto a gravel road which is probably why the woman wouldn't let me take the bike to the waterfall. I got there and paid the 10k entry and there was a girl there who told me which wayto go but I checked the map and the other path looked quicker. I went up and then diverted to a plain path rather than a staircase path and I got up and there was no waterfall where it was marked. I walked around and there was still nothing so I went up towards an attraction someone had marked on the map. This was all taking a lot longer than I wanted and it was past 5pm and I needed to get the bike back by 6. I was tired, low on water and having to climb up but I got to the top and the attraction turned out to be a village. Great. I headed back down to try to get to the path the girl had recommended and I managed to miss my turning a couple of times and also tried a shortcut which was a dangerous cliff climb down so I ended up going back the same way and running a bit late. I found the waterfall areas and they were pretty dry so it was all a waste of time and at the bottom the lake didn't look very swimmable so I went back to the bike and the basket had been broken by a falling branch.
I rode back and stopped at the bus station and got the bus times. Then I bought some water, juice and noodles from the supermarket and went back. I stopped at the wrong bike place and it was a few minutes before 6 but I found the right place and he said the basket would cost 50k to replace which was about what I expected so I paid and walked back to the hostel. I was a bit tired so I rested a bit and ate some noodles. I went to try to book a flight from a travel agent as they should be able to make the payment and I got to the night market and had a look but it was mostly textiles with some metal things like bracelets made from bombs. I found a travel shop but he said the flights were 145 and 165 dollars which was more than the 105 I'd seen. I walked through the market a bit more then went to the internet place. I stayed there until 10 and booked a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi on the 14th and also freed up some memory in my phone and camera. I went back to the hostel where the upstairs was closing so I asked whete I was supposed to go without disturbing people trying to sleep but her English was no good. I read for a while in the lobby and went to bed at 11.
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