Day 85 (Tue 8 Dec): Luang Prabang (Kuang Si waterfall, bear sanctuary, butterfly park)

Kuang Si waterfall:

We rented a motorbike, left early and climbed to the top before the tourist hordes arrived.

On the way up, I saw this beautiful dragonfly:

… fungus on a fallen tree:

… and once again broke my record for the biggest wild spider I’ve ever seen (Rudy’s hand included to give a sense of scale):

At the top, I wasn’t entirely sure why an armed guard was necessary:

But the view was fantastic:

And then, still ahead of the crowds, a swim in the pools, playing in the current:

A bear sanctuary lives on the site providing a final home for rescued animals. Watching their slow, languid movements was very relaxing – how chilled do these look?!

Kuang Si Butterfly Park is absolutely fascinating. Set up by a Dutch couple, it’s informative and interesting. Here’s what I learnt about butterflies:

Their wings act as solar panels – they open them in the sun to “charge them up”
They can see UV, which is reflected by nectar (that’s how they know where it is)
The alcohol of fermented fruit turns into sugar in their bodies

Lifecycle of a butterfly:

When a female is born, she releases pheromones that the male detects and comes to mate
The female can accept or reject him
If she accepts, they “dance” together (different dances for different species) and mate
The female has to lay eggs on a specific type of plant (again, dependent on species)
She tastes the plant by scratching its surfaces to release its juices and tastes with receptors in her feet
If it’s the right host plant, she lays her eggs (between 70 and a few hundred eggs, of which only about two percent will make it to butterfly stage)
Some females can only mate once, others more than once (species dependent)
Most males die after mating
Caterpillars hatch and stay on the plant, eating and pooing – they can grow to a thousand times their birth weight, shedding their skin as they grow (one to three weeks)
Their last skin isn’t discarded but becomes the outer part of their chrysalis
At the park they collect the chrysalises (sp?) and hang them on a frame whose feet are in water (to prevent ants climbing up and eating them)
Many chrysalises are gold or silver as it reflects the light making it more difficult for predators to see
Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar dissolves (I know, mind-bogglingly amazing) and the butterfly forms
When it’s ready, the chrysalis turns transparent and, within seconds, the butterfly emerges
If it’s sunny, it’ll take 30 to 120 minutes to open its wings and “charge up”
If it’s female, the pheromones are released and the cycle starts again
Males take an extra day to get with it and then go in search of a female
Butterflies only live about a week because of natural predators
To protect themselves, they’re often brightly coloured (“don’t eat me, I’m toxic”) or camouflaged

Here’s a stunning example of camouflage – the “dead leaf butterfly”:

I bet you’re never gonna look at a butterfly quite the same way again. Me neither. And I’m pleased to announce that I’ve finally captured some on film, albeit not the very big ones. Enjoy:

I squealed, everyone laughed. I’ve never been to a fish spa before. For the uninitiated (i.e. me), it’s a pool full of fish that like to eat dead skin. Nom, nom. It didn’t tickle or hurt, but you can feel them nibbling:

With that (and a free slice of cake because he wanted an expert’s opinion, although the mention of a blog and a Trip Advisor review may also have helped), we rode back through the countryside: