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Published: March 15th 2011
Dust and heat are what I remember from Laos. Long long roads with swirling orange clouds. Aching bums from bumpy bus rides, curious looks from dirty children eating lotus seeds.
From Phonsavan we got a bus south to Vientiane. It was a funny bus. Most of the buses were run by companies but this seemed to be three guys who had bought a bus and were out to make their fortune. As with most Asian buses, people weren't the only cargo. Previously we'd ridden with a large variety of vegetables. On this occasion, we spent the 11 hour journey with our feet on boxes of amoxicillin and our knees under our chins. As always the people were jammed in. We stopped next to every single pedestrian on the road as the bus boys tried to persuade them to come aboard.
What snippets of lives you get when you travel. Young men in their best clothes heading to the capital. Ragged children playing in the road. Women in sarongs washing under pumps. About half way, we came upon a village dispute. A young woman emerged from the centre of the crowd and sprang onto the bus. A man chased her,
grabbing her bag and wrist eventually pulling her back off to the arguing crowd. It was obvious that some wanted her to stay and some wanted her to go but what it was about I couldn't say for sure. They were lost in the dust behind us. We rolled on towards the capital, the land flat around us. Rice as far as the eye could see.
In Viantiane, we found a cheap hotel and a good Cafe (with possibly the best croissants in the world) and tried to access the cities wireless internet network. It was very slow but the mere fact that it existed was, to me, amazing. The affects of communications were so obviously benefical in poor countries like Laos. Mobile phones in particular are widespread and exceedingly useful. They open the country up. People can effectively visit far flung family and do business without the need for long expensive bus journeys.
Vientiane is not unlike the other cities in Laos, it is a crumbling colonial style capital. With around, 800,000 people it houses a large chunk of Laos population and is growing fast. You wouldnt know this from being there. It's so subdued that its
hard to view as a capital city, but it is bustling in a Laos sort of way. The sort where you nap in between bustles and follow the nap with a good snooze.
I have to admit, that this was where, me and Alex got a bit fed up. Laos is nice, Laos is friendly but I'm sorry to say we found it too easy to be rewarding. I'll be frank. I'm not the sort of person that can lie on a beach or lounge in a bar. I dont like constant snoozing. I need to be doing things. Travelling is very self indulgent business, and for me unless it's a challenge, I don't find it very worthwhile.
Lying under a fan in our crumbling hotel we considered our options. Bail to Thailand? Blast south towards Cambodia? Go on an unplanned expedition to Myanmar? Foray into Vietnam? We picked Myanmar and after a bit of research into the ethics of visiting such a repressive country, we set off for the Burmese embassy.
That was my favourite day in Vientiane. It was a blisteringly hot. The streets were dusty and quiet, everyone was hiding indoors. We, the pink
tourists set off to explore the city on foot. Unfortunately we didn't take the Camera, so I can only tell you about the lovely buildings in the diplomatic quarter; The armed guards around the shiny US embassy; The humongous palace of the Russian ambassador. It was a fadad world of enormous mansions from days gone by, all shrouded in clouds of dust. The Myanmar embassy was not where the guide book said, it had been replaced by a building site. When we did locate it, a small building with a a staff of three, it was a bit of an anticlimax. We were informed that no visas were being issued for the next month due to the elections. The first elections in 20 years, and we'd managed to coincide! Darn it.
We re-grouped and decided we had been too hasty in dismissing Laos. Instead of bailing, we should speed things up a bit; see the sights of Vientiane then steam-roll south via as much as we could fit in while still moving fast!
And so we did. We marvelled at the glinting Pha That Luang stupa, took in the slightly grimy Victory Gate and black stupa, stuffed ourselves
with curry and BBQ meat at the night market. Then, after a last croissant, we hopped on a bus out of town.
Nine hours south and we were in Savannakhet. We had half a morning to explore; a few wat (a few what?) and a walk along the Mekong later, we came to the cutest dinosaur museum ever. One room big, and housing a lovely collection of local fossils, it was untouched by modern hands, all in French and staffed by a small (and very unprofessional) gang of giggling children!
That afternoon was a mere 6 hour bus ride on to Pakse. This is where the tourist trail picks up and we saw real tourists for the first time in Laos. We gave ourselves one day in Pakse which we decided to use for a day trip to Wat Phu, near Champasak. Wat Phu is a cousin of the temples of Angkor, a Khmer ruin somewhat forgotten and lost to the forest. Retrospectively, I can tell you, an independent day trip from Pakse is not a great plan.
Early in the morning, we walked down to the central market to catch a songtheaw. This is the short
distance vehicle of Laos; an unpronounceable pick-up truck with wooden benches in the back and as many passengers as is viable inside. It a cheaper and more interesting option than bus or tuk-tuk, although you'll need a towel to protect your face from the dust. But of course, any self respecting traveller will always know where their towel is.
The songthaew left when full, and an hour or so later we trundled into a the one road town that is Champasak. We'd read our trusty guide book and had a plan. We found a guest house with a tuk-tuks, in the hope that they would take us to the wat. The lady quoted us a price five times what we expected and wouldn't bargain. We had only brought a small budget and didn't have enough. After some negotiation, we persuaded her to sell us some rice and rent us a few bicycles. She assured us that there was a songthaew back to Pakse at 1pm, so we set off in a hurry. Three hours to cycle 10km to the wat, look around and cycle 10 km back, all in the noonday sun. We had forgotten our hats. We plastered
ourselves in sun-cream and managed to buy some water at a roadside shop. Alex is an avid cyclist but I am not, and it was so hot that by the time we got the the entrance of the wat, I was exhausted. The temple complex itself was massive and we didn't have time to explore properly. I had a five minute rest under some trees while Alex sprinted around taking pictures. Then we got back on our bikes and did a reasonable impression of speeding back to Champasak.
We arrived, tired and dishevelled with time to spare. The woman was gone. Replaced by an unsmiling man. “What songthaew?”, he said. “No songthaew to Pakse, stay here tonight”. Hmm. “No, we go to Pakse, already paid guest house”. “Ok, I take you to river, tuk-tuk, get boat”. He quoted an astronomical price. “No thank you, we walk”. We hadn't bought the guide book so weren't sure exactly where we were but after much objection the man indicated which way to go. With tired legs we staggered back out into the heat and began to walk in the direction of Pakse. Another guest house we asked at confirmed that there were
no songthaews but suggested there might be tourist boats back to town. We asked around for tourist boats but no-one could help. One guest house told us that we could definitely flag down a bus on the road across the river. A few Kilometres later we'd finished our rice and were getting grumpy. Then we found the ferry terminal. Blessing ourselves for learning to count in Laos, we negotiated a price and stood aboard a 2mx2m sheet of wood which our driver propelled across the open water. On the far bank, we conveyed our intentions and the boat man took us to a café. With the help of a Thai tourist, we discovered that this tiny town was still 15km from route 10. Luckily, the proprietor owned a sawntheaw and for the right price agreed to leave her shady spot and take us to the main road, where, she said, “yes bus Pakse”.
We were dropped on the verge of the highway. Our songthaew turned around and trundled back into the heat haze. The junction was populated. A motorbike repair shed and a stand of women who sold lotus stems. They looked at us curiously. We walked up to
the motorbike shed and gestured towards Pakse. The mechanic shook his head. He called a friend on his mobile. The crackly voice on the end of the line explained to us that there were no more buses that day. Finally the weather broke and the oppressive heat dissolved into rain. We were drenched in a few seconds. The road was quiet.
We stood, dishevelled and dripping on the side of the road, wondering what to do. Then, in a spray of water, a shiny 4x4 emerged from the recent gloom. We waved at it abjectly (palms down and towards us, as is the Laos method) and were amazed when it stopped beside us. The tinted window rolled down. “Pakse?”, Alex said hopefully. The two men mutely jerked there thumbs towards the spotless leather back seat. We got in trying to spread as little dirt around as possible. Thai pop music blared out of the stereo and the doors clicked locked. Were we being held hostage by Thai drug baron? We drove in an awkward silence at 110km an hour, swerving to avoid the cows.
Our misgivings were unfounded. In a remarkably short time were stopped on the highway
by Pakse. The doors clicked open and when we offered some money the men waved us away with massive grins. It was getting dark by the time we walked the final few kilometers back to the guesthouse and collapsed in our beds. Maybe Laos was more fun than we'd thought.
Travel info:
Phonsavon- Vientiane, bus, 11hr, 95,000kip. There are several a day , we got the 7.45am.
Syri 1 guest house, double with bath, 70,000 kip. Random old guest house with interesting décor but a run down feel and a lack of staff.
Vientiane-Savannakhet, bus, 9 hr, 80,000 kip leaving early morning.
Sayamungkhun guesthouse on th Ratsavongseuk, double with bath, 50,000 kip. Nice building with slightly cheaper annex rooms. Friendly.
Savannakhet- Pakse, bus, 6 hr, departures until 11 am. 35,000 kip.
Saibadee 2 guest house, 50,000 kip for a double without bath. Busy guest house that can organise tours and transport. Nice but simple rooms.
Pakse- Champasak (from where you can get a tuk-tuk, motorbike or bicycle to wat phu). Songthaew leave from Pakse central market when full and cost 20,000 kip each. There are plenty of places to stay in Champasak if you haven't arranged return transport and don't fancy hitching! Guesthouses also arrange day trips by minibus or boat.
See photos for bus times and prices from Pakse.
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Martin
non-member comment
Ah, it's great to hear about Vientiane. I remember dearly my arrival there, the most surprisingly least hectic arrival ever, never has there been such a sleepy and mellow capital city, surely.