Blogs from Pakse, South, Laos, Asia

A lay in for us this morning. We just have to get up, take a leisurely breakfast, zip up our bag and wander down to the ferry. Our bus is due to leave the mainland at 11.30am and the boat is due to leave Don Det island at 11am. We were instructed to arrive for the boat 10 minutes before departure so, like true British Citizens, we stupidly turn up at 10.30am. We are not the only ones I might add. We observe the local courier service arriving by ferry - three motorbikes packed with goods which are driven off a wooden punt and up the beach over a boardwalk. We had a bit of a mishap with our ticket when we came to check out loading procedures yesterday...’someone’ let go of it when it was ... read more

Pakse is the second largest city in Laos - for visitors it is most known for being close to the Bolaven Plateau (full of waterfalls, traditional villages and coffee plantations), Wat Phu (a temple that pre-dates Angkor Watt), and the 4000 islands (laid back...at the time traditional...islands in the Mekong along the border with Cambodia). I first visited Pakse 8 years ago, and was surprised how much I loved it. At the time, it wasn't on the backpacker/tourist trail - there was one hostel, a couple of big hotels, and not much else - I walked around and saw a lot of temples and folks living normal life, and absolutely no one tried to sell me a thing - it was the best. Fast forward a few years and the backpacker trail has changed - Vang ... read more

Anticipating a full day tour by VIP MiniBus, provider Pakse Travel, we are up, breakfasted and outside our hotel by 7.40am. There are 5 of us being picked up for the same tour, an English couple from London, Julie and Alan, and a German lady called Renata, a Scandinavian girl called Sally and a guy whose name we can't recall. So we're all on first name terms and off to a great start. Before long our 12 seater is full to bursting point and a rather strange French lady ends up next to our driver. She turns out to be a pain in the proverbial, but that's another story. Yesterday we changed our travel plans for our onward trip to Savannakhet, mainly because we didn't fancy a 7 hour public bus trip, so opted for a ... read more

Während ich so da stehe, fällt mir plötzlich etwas auf. Der Deutsche der an der einzigen anderen Haltestelle ausgestiegen ist... Den kannte ich! Der saß in dem gleichen Zug rüber nach Laos und ich hatte ihn noch etwas wegen des Visums gefragt... Ist diese Welt klein... Aber zurück: Wir hatten mittlerweile den 26. Februar und ich war an meinem Zwischenziel angekommen, doch mein Handy war leer und mein Kabel kaputt. Also habe ich mir irgendwie die Zeit vertrieben und schon mal ausgekundschaftet bis um acht die Geschäfte aufmachten. Nach dem Erwerb eines Kabels habe ich einen Kaffee in einem süßen Café getrunken, denn das geht in China nicht wirklich. Ich konnte das Handy mit meinem externen Akku laden und konnte mich so orientieren. Mein erstes Ziel war selbstverständlich der Tempel, denn ich konnte schon bei meiner ... read more

Kate and I decided to leave Tad Lo today - a very pleasant place but not a huge amount to do. Before catching the bus back to Pakse we were going to go up to see the Bolaven Plateau but because of the heavy rain that was falling and visibility being about 10 metres we had to give it a miss. So instead we said our goodbyes to the lovely owners and their children, and made our way by taking the local 'smiling lady' taxi back to the main street to wait for the bus. Nearly an hour later and the bus finally arrived and only stopping for a wee in the bush on the return we made it back to Pakse. Swopping onto a songtheaw ( pronounced songtel) we finally made it 4hrs later south ... read more