Be My Laos (Happy New Year)!

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Caro: Bizarrely the trip from Cambodia into Laos was relatively simple. Apart from the fact that we ended up in a different place to where we expected. We were picked up in a mini bus and there were approx 9 of us in it! There was no rubbish on the floor, no recently killed livestock and one person per seat. It all seemed way too simple. We caught this bus to Steung Treng and then took another bus to the border. The guy who was our guide who was organising the visa etc. came to the back of the bus where Joff and I were sat with another British couple. He said that we would be arriving in Don Det at 1pm, we thought that we were going to the main island in the 4000 islands Don Khong but we decided that following the others was probably a better idea. He immediately started the sales pitch: No ATMs on Don Det, they don't accept $ but if we wanted to change some money through him he would be happy to help us out. I suggested that he would be an ideal candidate to go on the Apprentice. A joke which was clearly wasted on him... Anyway to be fair to the guy, he was right, the exchange rate there was pretty much what he offered us and there are no ATMs. I think that Don Det got electricity in 2009!
So there were 7 of us in total that crossed the border. A couple from Mexico, the British couple and another guy who was British and was teaching English in Vietnam and was doing some traveling before going home. Having crossed the border at Veun Kham / Dom Kralor, we took a boat to Don Det. It was just midday at this point, we have never done a journey so quickly on the whole of this trip so far. We had been told horror stories of how difficult it is to cross the border, how you can't get a visa etc. It was really fine.
When we arrived we sat down and had some lunch, then I offered to watch all the rucksacks whilst Joff and the others went to look for somewhere to stay. Bizarrely enough Joff and I, the Mexican couple and the other British couple all ended up at the same bungalows in spite of having all gone in completely different directions. It took some selecting as the accommodation ranged greatly in quality from a fetid shack on stilts literally falling into the river with shared squatters and no shower to complete bungalows with ensuite and all the trimmings. Toilet paper etc!. There was an option to share a squat toilet at another place, I vetoed this before I had even seen the place. Joff mentioned that when the other female in the group refused to stay somewhere he didn't even look at it! Anyway, they came back and the British guy who was the teacher decided to stay at the place where we had eaten lunch. Joff and I walked down following the couple we had met and bumped into an American Hippie couple who said we should go and stay at the Paradise Bungalows which they owned. The woman had Dame Edna Everage (sp?) glasses and the guy had a long grey beard which he wore in a plait. Immediately alarm bells started to go off and Joff and I had visions of it being a religious cult where they consumed copius amounts of acid and engaged in "group activities". Needless to say we did judge the book by the cover but we were happier that we weren't staying there! We had already had one paradise religious cult experience and we didn't need another one!
We had a relaxing afternoon watching the owner of the bungalows construct a boat on the river whilst drinking beer, chatting to the couple from the UK Dave and Claire and trying the local food. The people in Laos don't seem to make rice as well as the folk in Vietnam or Thailand but apart from that I had a lentil curry which was lovely. The bungalows that we stayed in seemed to be fairly newly constructed and the family were lovely. Looking back it seemed more like a home stay as we got to know the people who lived and worked there. Claire and I tried to figure out for 3 days how the family fitted together as we heard the guy say that he had 7 children. I'm not sure how many wives he used to create said children as there were potentially 3!!!! The little boy had a tendency to remove all of his clothes and sit on the cushions that we all lounged about on, we realised this on the last day.
The 4000 islands are beautiful, we hired bikes the next day and cycled over to Don Khone, we visited to Li Phi Falls, I expected this to be a little trickle but it was a huge waterfall which was immense. We had to pay 1000 kip to leave our bikes and Joff had a 50,000 note, they laughed at us and suggested that we break the note then pay (we assumed this is what they said anyway). We went to get a drink and there was a family of locals having lunch. I really don't know how these women do it. There was me: red faced, sweaty and covered in dust. They are sat there fanning themselves with a full face of makeup, long trousers and long sleeves! I'm not envious at all! From the falls we cycled to the bottom of the islands (Ban Hang Khon) and back to Don Det via the sunset side of the island. We went to dinner with Claire and Dave again to sample some of the Laos food. I have to say that I haven't enjoyed the food here as much, as all that I ate was been fried rice and vegetables. The meal that night wasn't great but the service was something which left a bit to be desired. I'm starting to understand why the books say that everyone is so laid back in Laos. You tend to have to approach them if you want to buy anything or order anything. A complete contrast to be harassed into every tuk tuk going in Phnom Penn. It is interesting to learn how the different nationalities react in different ways.
We spent 3 days on Don Det and left on 8th April, as we walked up to the tip of the island to catch the boat there were loads of people. This guy shouts "ok let's go" and it becomes apparent that the 50 people aren't going to fit into the boat that looks like it will accommodate about 15 people. Again another example of the Laos way of life. You have to love the relaxed way that they go about things.
I ended up sitting next to Joe the English guy who we came over the border with into Laos. We also chatted to another guy who will be known as Dave the Australian (we were the only 3 people who were going to Champasak, everyone else was going to Pakse) which we thought odd. Anyway we were dropped off at the ferry where we met an Irish guy and he recommended somewhere to stay. Joff, myself and Dave the Australian headed to the recommended accommodation and within about 5 mins we had checked in and we were on our way to Wat Phou. Built around the same time as Ankor Wat with the original part of the temple built some 200 years previously you get great views over the country side when you go to Wat Phou, apart from this there is nothing to do at Champasak. We climbed to the top of the hill where the temple and the spring of holy water is and then made our way back to the tuk tuk. We met a group of Thai people who introduced themselves and said that there were in their 70s and managed to climb it so we should have no issue!!!!!!
We headed back and had a quick drink and dinner whilst chatting to a guy from Durham !!!!!! and a guy from the South West who both teach in Vientiane.
Early start the next day to catch the "local bus" to Pakse. It was early but we made it and it was a bit like sitting in the back of a truck with benches. We sat with Dave the Aussie in a cafe in Pakse and had coffee before we needed to leave for the airport. During this time we managed to pick up the biggest weirdo in town. I'm pretty sure that the guy was drunk but he pestered us for at least 45 mins, until Dave told him to F-off. This was the only thing that he seemed to understand. At first it was funny until we became tired of him. He was trying to encourage us to buy some sticks which judging by his demonstration worked in a similar fashion to Viagra. Not really something you want to witness over your breakfast!
We headed to the "airport" / landing strip, it was a bit like flying into Pokra in Nepal tbh and the departure board was a sticker board. However we made it to Vientiane on time and fairly easily. We had heard horror stories but it was fine and saved us an overnight 10 hours stint on the Karaoke bus (we bumped into Dave and Claire in Vientiane who confirmed this was the case)!
We checked into the Vayakorn guest house and went to solve the conundrum of what we are going to do next. Basically everything shuts down over the Laos New Year which would have meant that if we didn't leave before the 12th it would be impossible to leave before the 18th which kinda mucked up plans for Thailand. We decided that we would like to spend the New Year in Thailand so although we would miss going to Luang Prabang in Laos we had done seen a bit and knew we would be back.
We spent a day wandering round Vientiane, what a wonderful place it is. It is quit compact for a capital city and the people are lovely. It is extremely french in character and all of the street names are in Laos and in French. We went to That Luang which is Vientiane's most important site and holiest Buddhist monument in the whole country. The tuk tuk driver then took us to Patuxai which is like the Arc de Triomphe. Then we went to the Wats: Sisaket and Phra Kaeo. There seems to be a lot of reconstruction going on in the wats due to the French, Americans and Thai people blowing the country to bits over the years. Still the people of Laos seem to be coming through it.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cambodia and Laos, I think Cambodia has wowed me more than any country we have been to so far. I feel that this would have been the case had we gone to Laos first. Looking forward however to the next part of the journey and Thailand.

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