After the horrendous experience with the Cambodia and Laos 'boarder officials' (if you want the detail you will need to read the short blog piece that I wrote prior to this) we were dropped off our bus at around 10.30pm in Pakse. We jumped in a new style tuk tuk which was a motorcycle with a side car big enough for us two and bags! He dropped us off at the Sabaidy 2 guesthouse and we headed to bed.
Up the next morning to quite a meager breakfast at the guesthouse and we went in search of a new place to stay for the next 2 nights. We'd booked Sabidy 2 last minute and it was overpriced for its double rooms. So we headed across to the Alissa guesthouse and checked in for 2 nights and several pounds cheaper.
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Public transport Lao style
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We headed out and explored the local area... We knew that there was not a huge amount to see in Pakse but it was the right place to stop for a day or two to get into Laos mode. Lunch was at a small restaurant aimed at tourists and I had my first taste of laap... Minced meat salad, a Laos staple. Unsure if I'd choose it again as I found it a bit bland and not too filling. Andy had a bowl of noodles in soup washed down with a beer Lao and seemed pleased with his choice.
A stroll along the river and it was too hot to be out and about wandering around so we headed back to the guesthouse for, you guessed it- aircon (spoilt tourists!).
The main road running through Pakse is being built so you have to clamber over roadworks and fresh cement to get across the street. They're making quick work of the road though and each time we head back to the guesthouse a new part has been laid.
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| Pakse high street, as you can see the road down the centre has been laid but the sides are yet to be constructed |
Dinner was at an Indian restaurant (when in Rome I hear you say) and we had a couple of good curries and beer Lao.
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Traditional Lao style dinner, beer and curry...
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Next day we headed to breakfast at Hassan's (another Indian place) and had a really good meal. Fruit n yogurt for me and pineapple and sticky rice for Andy. Of course we knew at this point we'd be eating again there tomo. After a refuel we headed out to see some local wats, the main market and crossed the Mekong on a bridge which took a good 20 minutes to cross on foot! At the market Andy tried to buy a new t-shirt... This was unsuccessful due to the stall sellers pretty much telling Andy that he was too big to fit in their clothes!
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Hassan provides us with a good start to the day!
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| Pakse market |
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| Andy dreaming of being able to fit in an Asian XXL, even with the weight loss he's still a gigantor in Asia |
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| This is one big ol' bridge |
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| With a Buddha on the other side... |
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| Walking back over the bridge... We were on here for a while |
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Pakse temple, yes another wat for you to see!
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Up early the next morning to catch a bus to Si Phan Don - the Four Thousand Islands. The bus journey was a few hours and arrived at the ferry port on schedule with a minimum of fuss. The only annoyance on the journey were the other young passengers drooling over each other and generally being annoying western backpacker tourists, still who am I to talk!
From the bus station a driver walked us down to the harbour and we boarded a narrow long-tailed boat, 2 people wide and all sat on the floor we sped down the Mekong to Don Det, our home for the next few days.
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| Our transfer from the mainland to the 4000 Islands |
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| Cosy boat ride |
The journey was great and the scenery really enjoyable. At the other end we loaded up our packs and walked from the northern drop off point all the way down to the south island - this was my idea in the heat of the day. Not the best call but we did see plenty of real local life outside of the tourist towns and bumped into a really friendly local who had just come back from fishing. He didn’t speak any English but was quite chatty and smiley. Given the fact he was also carrying a huge cleaver, we just smiled and nodded back and asked him about his catch whilst pausing in the shade. Ana had spied a place to stay called River Garden and we were looking for this place and pretty much stumbled across it without really noticing. It consisted of a communal eating area on stilts in the Mekong with 5 huts set back a few meters from the rivers edge. The location was pretty idyllic as you can see from the pics and the huts were equipped with hammocks in the porch. Ana's snapped (whilst she was in it!!) and so we rolled out the emergency hammock repair kit again! Note - when travelling, always carry several meters of strong marine cord, very handy.
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| Andy cocooned in his hammock which was held up by steel ropes whilst mine was hung with spider webs |
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| I think he could get used to this! |
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| The view from our bungalow across the Mekong |
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| Another rabid dog moonlighting as an adorable puppy |
After meeting Eik-the manager of the place, we grabbed some lunch - spicy Fish Lapp (a hot chilli fish salad) for me and fried noodles for Ana. Good food with a fruit shake and a beer. We had a little wander to get our bearings and retired to the hammocks for the evening.
The huts were a little more basic than the treetop lodge in Cambodia (only 3 pounds per night!) and we were prepared for the onslaught of spiders and insects - or so I thought. Inside was not too bad although if you left the light on in our room for too long at night the fan would turn into an insect shredder and blow decapitated insect remains across the room - still, better than being even hotter! When we got outside for dinner, it was a slightly different story, the insects were attracted by the lights of the eating and were swarming in huge noisy balls around the lights -check it out!
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| Mozzies by the light, looks like it's snowing... if only it was! |
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| Mekong views |
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| Sun is setting |
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| And it's gone... |
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| Leaving beautiful scenery |
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| Bug bungalow |
Next day we hired bikes and headed across to the next island, Don Khon, the 2 small islands are joined by a bridge and you pay a toll to get across which includes entry to the waterfalls and rapids on Don Khon. The cycle was quite short but it was a lovely sunny day and the scenery was pretty. After 20 mins or so we got to the waterfalls, locked up the bikes and headed in for an explore. Not the largest waterfalls ever but many small tumbling falls combining together make this quite an impressive sight, a little further down the river there is a calmer area that you can wade into - so I went in and got my feet wet in the Mekong, not too far out from the shore though as the current at this point would drag you downstream pretty quickly!
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| Back on two wheels :) |
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| Crossing between two of the 4000 islands, I wonder if we could cross between all of them?! |
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| Waterfalls |
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| Waterfalls and Ana |
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| No swimming for us in these 'falls |
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| Local wildlife hiding in amongst the bamboo, how many can you spot? |
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| Dragonfly posing for us |
We continued on top the very south of Don Khon (about 7K in total from the bridge crossing) and took a look at the view back into Cambodia. There are boat tours that take you further south into the Mekong and to some more waterfalls. They also have some Irriwaddy river dolphins (also referred to by us as Shawaddy waddy dolphins) that you may be able to see. We passed this up as the boat actually re-enters Cambodia whilst in the river and every now and again someone will get caught out, we have had enough fun with this crossing…
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| Just across the water from Cambodia |
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| More of those 4000 islands |
When we had wrapped up our sightseeing of the 4000 islands south of Don Khon, we headed back for some food and cycled back to the hotel and carried on to the very North of Don Det where we had been dropped off the day before by the boat.
There is a bar called Adams here, a haven for the younger western traveller looking to smoke some weed and eat a burger (or eat weed in a burger!). Avoided the former but tucked into the latter and I was not disappointed. Adams also shows some pretty recent (and I am sure entirely genuine and legal - ahem) films so we camped out here eating, drinking and watching the Wolf of Wall Street for the afternoon.
A very pleasant end to the days exploring. Hopped back on the bikes to catch the sunset. Whilst we were there we heard some noises in the river and realised we'd stumbled across a heard of water buffalo bathing in the river to cool down! Was fun to watch them relax and play in the water (fingers crossed the video works below - check out the one trying to hide underwater!). It was then back to river garden to relax for the evening until it was time to head to bed and into our insect death chamber. Every so often you would hear a crunch as another bug met its end in the blades of our room fan.
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| Don Det sun set |
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| It's still going down... |
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| Cooling cows |
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| We picked a good spot for sunset |
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| Fresh spring rolls - yum! |
Next day Ana went out for a morning run around the island. I rented a tube (aka rubber ring) to float down the Mekong and we headed back to Adams again - great choice of film by Ana - I Love You Man - not seen for a long time and the crowd in the bar (half of them stoned) seemed to enjoy it too!
Chatted with Eik and sorted our boat out of there for the next morning and bus back to Pakse. We had decided to make a run for Vientiane to see in the Laos New Year (Pii Mai) and wanted to see it in one of the larger towns (Luang Prabang or Vientiane). This required an epic bus journey of 12-14 hours or so and we plumped for an overnight bus from Pakse.
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| Andy investigates what all the fuss is about with 'tubing' |
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| Looks pretty relaxing... |
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| Until you crash into one of the other islands... |
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| Locals fishing infront of our bungalow |
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| Something tells me it's a good spot! |
Next morning as arranged by Eik, the boat pulled up right outside the guesthouse and we were loaded aboard and ferried back up the Mekong to the bus and back to Pakse. Another reasonable bus journey dropping us back in the town we are now familiar with and so we sought out the Alissa Guesthouse again for a nights accommodation and went back to the same travel agent who sorted us with discounted onward tickets (without being asked to!) all sorted we headed out for a good dinner and crashed back at the hotel luxuriating in the AC again!
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| And we are back in Pakse for the evening |
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| Last night before travelling all the way up to the capital for new year |
Next evening we headed out to grab a meal at the corner restaurant and moved on to the travel agents where we were due to wait for our bus.
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| Last Pakse meal - noodles, chicken, rice and papaya salad |
This really meant that the lady who ran the place ferried the passengers down to the bus station in her car 2 or 3 at a time! This was a pretty comfortable ride and she sorted out our tickets when we got there and we just had to wait. The bus station for the VIP sleeper buses is a little like the movie fast and furious only with buses. Each driver considers himself to be some sort of top gun pilot and the vehicles they drive are a little comedy with neon lights front and back and under the wheel arches and huge intricate murals of ladies and exotic scenes painted down the sides. Quite a sight, seeing 20 or so buses like this competing for who has the most outlandish decoration. What do you reckon?
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| Not so Fast but Furious |
Got into the bus and had been allocated essentially a playmat area on the floor at the very back of the top deck - this would have been OK I think, but we were sharing with 3 others so just a little cosy for the overnight journey. However plans changed when a monk boarded and he and only his ‘friend’ were given the back spot and we moved a to a little 2 person space for just Ana and I – although this was a little more comfortable. The inside of the bus was covered in pink plastic and divided into 2 person 'berths' just a space really but comfortable enough and nearly enough (but not quite) to stretch out in. The bus was also furnished with thin duvets that looked like they were branded with my little pony or something equally girly but other than the odd colour scheme the bus was comfortable enough (Ana here- it really wasn’t!).
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| This is our ride and bed for the night |
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| A cross between a 1960's american diner and a children's playpen |
I had grabbed a couple of Laos specialty baguettes - that is home made pate, salad and chilli to keep me going through the night and we had plenty of bus snacks (basically crap sugary foods) to keep us going until our arrival in Vientiane the following morning 14 hours later :-/
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