Climbing Phousi in Luang Prabang

They said the climb up Phousi is tough - 328 steps in all, where the first 100 steps is a killer.

So before starting my climb I made sure my knapsack only contained essentials like water and face towel so that my poor back won't have to bear the brunt of the load.

I started the climb at about 4.00pm on 28 December 2008. At the half way mark I paid the 20,000 Kip entrance fee and continued my journey to the top.

It was like climbing St Paul's Hill in Malacca or Batu Caves in Selayang - not too difficult. But if you've been Mr or Mrs Couch Potato for a while, then you might find certain parts of the climb a wee tad difficult.

After about 7 minutes, I saw my sister sitting on a bench. She started the climb first and I thought she was waiting for me to continue climbing together. But she told me I've reached the top. Hey ... it was not difficult after all. My regular gym workouts must have paid off :-)

So what's at the top of Phousi?

Well, there's a temple at the top of the hill (Didn't find out the name though):

You can even see a breathtaking view of the Nam Khan river: Or the Mekong:
But most importantly, hundreds of people climb to the top of Phousi to see this:

... The famous sunset.

Notice the many heads in the pic above. It was so crowded I had to jostle my way to book a spot and stood there for about an hour waiting for the sun to go down. And afer all that, I managed to take this pic:

So it was not a bad experience after all.