Vientiane - Hot and relatively expensive. We decide we had seen enough temples for now, so moved on pretty fast from here.
Why do we keep on doing this to ourselves? When asked, 'Do you want a local bus ticket or a VIP one?', we keep asking for the local one (a saving of about £1 a ticket). The local bus is packed full of people (there are plastic stools running down the centre as well as the official seats) and every time we stop (10min intervals) people jump on to sell stuff (usually fried crickets or the like).
(And we're not going to get started with the leg room. Mainly because there is none. My legs fight for space with the plastic seats in the aisle! - K)
The tourist scene has not found Southern Laos. This sounds great, but what it really means is that the accommodation is very basic and the restaurants are very local.
Despite our 6 hours on a bus with only a window for cool air we were remarkably happy in the Tuk Tuk on the way to the 'Travel Lodge' in Tha Knaek.
Where it rained the whole time we were there. No problem, apart from the leaky roof (hence the umbrella over the laptop).
So back on another local bus (no VIP ones on offer).
(Check out the bus decor. Possible inspiration for future interior design projects! - K)
With the last 30 mins on a big Tuk Tuk to Savannakhet,
Again not much to see here, it has not been updated since the French left around 50 years ago.
Peaceful but again not much to do here. We did manage to find a restaurant run by a Canadian guy who had the largest movie collection ever. We watched 'Ray'.
(The other highlight being a chocolate brownie and ice cream shop! - K)
Another bus journey later, we arrived in Pakse, much more tourist friendly with at least a couple of hostels and restaurants. We decided to stay for a day or two.
Typical restaurant.
Pakse is near to the 'Bolaven Plateau' famous for Tea & Coffee plantations. We booked onto a tour. Here the tea leaves are being dried.
The coffee plants.
Nearby are many waterfalls.
Each with a nearby market.
Waterfall.
A local fruit market. A couple of the guys bought a durian fruit. This is the smelliest fruit ever and banned from most hotels for that reason.
Waterfall.
The worst bridge ever!
A classic Tuk Tuk gas station. I think they use some kind of vegetable oil in them rather then petrol or diesel.
On the way back to Pakse we stopped at a small village (in the rain).
The local kids were playing in the mud and loved to wave at us and pull the classic Asian Victory V fingers pose.
The locals make various weavings to sell to the tourists. I have never seen a foot held loom before. I still find it very odd being paraded round the villages and trust me every tour takes you to at least one. Although they make money from us from what they sell they also become too reliant on the tourists, and in this village, they became a little aggressive towards those that did not buy anything. I do not like intruding on their village but I do like the fact that when I buy from them the money goes directly to source.
Most houses do not have fridges, so the best way to preserve the meat is to sun dry it. Great - apart from these strung up pieces of meat are fly magnets, ugh!
Back on the road again (or the boat) across to 4000 Islands. This is a section of the Mekong that is extremely wide and has 4000 (or so) islands, even though many of them are no more than a stump of grassey earth!
Our very cute boat driver's son.
See what I mean? How can those ever be defined as 'Islands'?
So the process goes like this, I drop off Kenny in a cafe somewhere with the bags while I go to find us somewhere to stay.
I found us a wonderful hotel to stay in - a good bed at last!
Breakfast on the water front overlooking the Mekong.
It was 'Rocket Festival' season while we were here. They set off home made rockets to call the rains of the monsoon in. A group of kids stood around banging drums and cheering as rockets were set off across the water. Some shot high off into the air. Others barely made it a foot off the ground.
This peaceful island is not very big and the best way to see it is by bike so we headed off with our friends, Andy & Leanne, through the paddy fields.
It was pretty hot.
But the scenery was worth it - paddy fields.
The standard accommodation here - a hut on stilts.
Said hut.
..................
A lot of the work is done by water buffalo.
But some work is also done by these odd lawnmower like engines.
(These are genuinely classed as tractors! - K)
It was a beautiful place and the people were lovely. Children waved and shouted 'Hello' as we passed by.
Back on a boat this time to Don Det island.
Passing the fishermen busy with their catches on our way.
We knew that Don Det was the party island and I am sure we would have loved it if we were 19, but I place too much value now on a good clean bed and decent food.
So after a quick game of pool, we chartered a boat to takes us down river to Don Khon where we were assured the hostels were better.
Both islands are lined with hostels.
They all look lovely. Small wood huts, all very rustic with hammocks overlooking the Mekong.
Great, until you realise that there is no air con and mozzies are free to come and go as they please and the bed sheets may or may not have been washed this season.
We found a great place to stay on Don Khon, with a wonderful restaurant over looking the Mekong.
Where we enjoyed our last night in Laos with some of the friends we have made. The food was fantastic, the wine was cheap, the company was fabulous and ....................
.................. the sunset was amazing.
Prepared for a long day ahead - first leg another boat trip.
The boarder with Cambodia, where we had been warned of the additional 'processing' charges. We were charged $1 to be stammped through quaranteen! $2 to get stammed out of Laos and another $2 to be stammped into Cambodia! All that on top of the visa charge (which itself was $3 more than advertised!). Cambodians are definitely not afraid to ask for your money, as we later found out.
