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Published: March 19th 2008
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PAKSE-
After our adventures around the Bolaven Plateau we spent the next two days in Pakse recovering and doing a few wee sightseeing tours. And being on the go since we left London 5 weeks ago we haven’t had a day just to catch up and do jack shit all so this was the perfect time. We spent the first day with a good sleep in and then had a look around the shops, which we will say it’s the only time that a extra large t shirt hasn’t fitted as it was to small but never mind what can you say at $1.50 a pop you can’t go wrong! After that it was back to the hotel and we had room service for lunch, lay on the bed and did not a hell of a lot for the afternoon which is rather boring but hell it felt good doing nothing for a change!!! Later that night I asked the reception to get in contact with a guy we meet while in Tad lo, Mr Ko is 34 year old Laos dude who has a Tuk Tuk of his own a takes a lot of tours out and about from Pakse,
We had our meal with him and shared a few laughs while in Tad Lo and he told us when we get back to Pakse to get the hotel to ring him and he would come over and have a drink..So after getting in touch he was there in a flash, we headed up to the restaurant on the roof of the hotel and in broken English spent the night eating and drinking with Mr Ko. He had no idea of the rules of Noughts and Crosses which we tried our hardest to teach him. But he did teach us some handy Lao language and in return he got a free English lesson which GODHELP!! His next bunch of tourists as he is now fully loaded with the fine art of KIWI slang!!After a lot of Beer Lao and enough food to feed half of Africa which come to a grand total of $27 dollars we jacked up a day trip with the, How’s it going mate!!. She’ll be right!! Cheers Bro!!!Kiwi slang speaking Mr Ko of Pakse Laos. After sending him on his way we hit the bed and man o live did we sleep!!!
Bang on 9am Mr
Ko shows up all set for our trip to Don Kho and a couple of temples and some Buddha carving places. First stop was the boat ferry to the Island which I will say I still don’t like the long boats as when you move one of your arse cheeks they start to rock from side to side and falling in the Mekong River with all our cameras and gear is not my idea of a fun trip!! We finally make it to the island which is known for its silk weaving and laid back island life. Soon as we arrive we are invited into one of the houses which are all built on stilts with their looms for weaving underneath in the shade. The men were busy doing what Lao men do the best!!NOTHING!!While the girls were busy making some absolutely beautiful silks on their looms. Barbs soon learnt that as soon as you point at a silk, no matter if its finish or not it’s yours so after a bit of price haggling (i.e drawing numbers in the sand with your fingers) we bought a couple of very cool silks. Barbs spent time watching the ladies busy at
their fine art and I decided to play marbles with a couple of local kids which I must say I got my arse kicked. While walking around the island we took some photos of this wee girl who is one of the coolest we kids we have seen so far, she had a bag of insects which were trying there hardest to get out of the bag she was holding and she couldn’t stop smiling and waving and with that we headed back to the mainland to be greeted by HOWS IT GOING MATE Mr Ko who had the usual my friend has a shop, good price for you Mr Shayne!!So we had a look and as always bought NOTHING. Next stop was to see some Buddha carving which Mr Ko told us that people come from all over Laos to purchase as it was some of the finest work produced in Laos and he wasn’t wrong! These guys carve out these amazing Buddha’s out of the rock that is lying around in the fields. After chatting with the locals for a while and sharing a mango with the ladies selling fruit and dried fish on sticks Barbs got caught
up snapping photos of these local boys and giving them my sunglasses to try on they thought that they were the coolest dudes in the village. At one stage I thought that they weren’t going to give them back but after a lot of laughing and joking we left with my sunglasses and headed back to Pakse. Getting our bus trip all sorted for the next nights 10 hour bus ride to Vientiane we had our last meal in the hotel and settled in for a quite night.
The next day we were going to be waiting around to 8pm when our sleeper bus was due to take us on the 10 hour trip up country to the capital Vientiane. So over breakfast we decided to see if there were any flights departing today because it seemed such a waste to spend the day sitting around then the 10 hour bus ride on top was going to be murder. Off to the Lao Airline office we go armed with our passports. The girl tells us there is only one flight a day and it’s due to leave in an hour and a half. SHIT!!! Panic stations, we race back to
the Hotel for the fastest packing session ever!!On the way back I run into Mr Ko who was busy at work sleeping in the back of his Tuk Tuk and I try to explain that we don’t want the sleeper bus tickets and is there any chance he can get our money back and also can he drop us off at the airport in 20 mins, After the usual I’m in one hell of a rush, lets share a cigarette and talk bullshit for 5 mins he headed off to get our money back and then pick us up for the airport. Packed and ready to go in 12 mins Mr Ko shows up with all of our money except the little bit of commission that we knew he would take and we are off to the airport. Saying our goodbyes to Mr Ko and thanking him everything he had done for us over the last few days it was time for the 1 hour flight up to Vientiane. Pakse is a nice enough town but do be sure to get out and explore the outlying areas as we felt that this was where you get to see true Laos
culture at its best!!!
Next blog Vientiane....
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