We befriended our hotel receptionist ‘Bounsi’, a 17 year high school boy doing a side job as a receptionist. Bounsi belongs to the Hmong ethnic group from South East Laos. In search of better pastures, he moved to Luang Prabang and had to pick up Lao language for survival along with English for better prospects. His broken English mixed with his exuberant personality made him an excellent communicator. Bounsi also works with the non-profit organization ‘Big Brother Mouse’ to improve his English. We invited Bounsi to join us to visit the Kuang Si waterfall about an hour away from Luang Prabang. While he gets to practice English, we get to enjoy his personality and hospitality. Along our way, we picked up Luca and Valentina (the Italian couple we met at the ferry) and headed to Kuang Si, a three level water fall nested in a forest. The step falls, the turquoise blue pool, and the thick vegetation around almost looked like an artificial movie set.
The human traffic hadn’t picked up when we arrived. We took a dip and swam around in the first pool. Bounsi and the boys were frolicking around and jumping off of a trunk overlooking the pool. We headed to the next levels and took a hike around the falls.
On our way back, the traffic had picked up with Chinese invasion. We took another dip in the pool but had to negotiate increasing human traffic. The same trunk overlooking the pool became an Instagram favorite with people lining to snap poses at the tip of the trunk. By then we had enough of the waterfall and took a break by the benches to have a long chat with Bounsi to learn of his day today happenings.
It is quite amazing how Bounsi at that tender age had to move away from his parents to complete his high school and make ends meet by working in the evening and night. On top of all that, he was keen to improve his English by attending various programs. We learned that a $30 dollar course for a 3 month program would go a long way in improving his English proficiency. It was a no brainer for us. We passed on the cash to Luca and Valentina for them to visit the institute the next day and settle the paltry payment. In comparison to India, the small amounts go a long way in Laos. That interaction germinated the idea for the boys to create a club in their schools to help Laos kids. It remains to be seen how the actions pan out.
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