Blogs from Pakse, South, Laos, Asia - page 3

It was time to leave the 4000 Islands and we awoke early to make the boat back to the mainland with a bunch of other backpackers. Looking around, we were far and away the lightest travelers. At first we figured maybe it was because our trip was much shorter than everyone elses. While this was the case in some instances, there were still people travelling for less time than us with 5-6 times the amount of luggage. Anyway, the boats arrived and we were crammed in. The stack of backpacks which took up the better part of the boat actually looked more comfortable than our end where we were squeezed in shoulder to shoulder on wooden planks. On hitting the shore, we prepared ourselves for yet another bus ride. Inevitably, you get to know the inside ... read more

So you left us on the night train to Ubon Ratchathani in North East Thailand. We arrived at around 9.30am but at around 7 we have had made our way to the dining car and had a thai take on an american breakfast. On arrival in Ubon we made our way to Warin Market to catch the bus to Chong Mek in order to cross into Laos, this wasn't quite that simple as the bus only took us half the way the we had to change into a pickup truck. But, We made it out of Thailand and into Laos and had a steaming bowl of beef (Water Buffalo) Noodle soup then into another pickup to get to Pakse - the driver refused to leave until he had at least 7 passengers for the trip to ... read more

Greetings All! Well after nearly 3 weeks of travel in Laos we have come to our last stop in the small city of Pakse that is situated near the Bolaven Plateau in Southern Laos. Since my last entry (in Luang Prabang), we certainly have covered a lot of ground. The next stop was Vang Vieng, which to many is regarding as the 'party' place in Laos as you can do the famous 'tubing' down the Mekong River. I decided not to do the tubing as we honestly heard some horror stories about it. A couple of us decided to take it easy instead so we took a trip to the 'blue lagoon' nearby. It was a short tuk tuk ride to a nice chill out place that had a fresh water pool suitable for swimming in, ... read more

So, firstly thank you for everyone who cheered me up with emails and comments after reading my last blog. For every down there is an up. My last blog was aimed at the my feelings of myself within the expat world, rather than on the road or settled at home, and it wasn’t meant to berate people who don’t stay in contact, as the old adage goes “It takes two to g-chat”. It was meant to be a look inward at my own personal disgruntlement and dissatisfaction. But to revert to a happier mood as I am not one to dwell in a hole, and in celebration of the onward trip. I thought I would compile a list of the 7 Wonders of the Traveller’s World! These things are either so wondrous or so useful to ... read more

We woke up and headed to the bus station in Ban Nahin. A Lao asked us "Where you go?" and we replied, "Pakse." Of course he didn't really say much afterwards... A songthaew was going by and stopped to ask us "Where you go?" and we replied again, "Pakse." He waved at us to get in to take us to ThaKhet, and from ThaKhet catch a bus to Pakse. Two hours in the back of a truck was hot and our butts got pretty sore. Halfway we had to pull out our sunscreen as we could feel the back of our necks burning. They all laughed at us whities not being able to stand the sun. They never have a spot for garbage on buses, or songthaews. Everyone just chucks it out the window, or out ... read more