Stray Laos

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane
June 28th 2012

Published: July 7th 2012

Edit Blog Post

dunkg

001

The Thai Lao border where we stopped to finalise our visa's

We came down for breakfast and to find the mighty orange Stray Bus waiting for us outside with our Isreali tour guide Wan, and some other members of the group. Immediately, everone was very friendly and we found out that they had all been on the bus together since Bangkok, travelling through Chang Mai in Northern Thailand, into Laos in the north and travelled down. We took our seat on the bus and headed off on the 6 hour bus journey to Tad Leuk waterfalls where we were camping for the night. The place was beautiful with a section of the river which reminded me of the Falls of Dochart flowing down into a massive waterfall. We had the visitor centre to camp out in and a hut built on the edge of the banks above the waterfall for our fire cooked dinner and drinks in the evening. We walked 500m up river to find a huge swimming hole and everyone dived in. The cool water being welcome after 6 hours on the bus. The whole river was surrounded by the biggest most colouurful butterflies we had ever seen in our lives. There were honestly thousands of all different shapes and

002

The Thai Lao border where we stopped to finalise our visa's

colours. After a swim we headed down and got dried off and started on the 30 big bottles of Beer Lao and the dreaded two bottles of Laos Lao; a Laotian moonshine we were told was whisky but was clear and very potent. The night 'drave on wi song and laughter, and aye, the Laos Lao was growing stronger' and we all collapsed into our mattresses on the floor of the visitor centre a little worse for wear.

The next morning we left early, still a bit drunk and hit the road to Konglor and the home of the 7km cave. Everyone was pretty passed out on the bus and no one seemed to notice the bus get a blowout on Road 13. We awoke to the smell of burning rubber and the bus pulling over to the side of the road. We all had to get off the bus and, considering that today was much hotter than yesterday at about 31 degrees and no shade in sight and most everyone nursing a pretty nasty hangover, people looked a little distraught. But, our driver Van and our Laotian guide Noi worked extremely hard to replace the wheel and

005

Tad Leuk Waterfall

in 20 minutes we were back on the bus and on our way. Around lunchtime, everyone was perking up and we left road 13 and got onto road 8; a winding little road that took us up into the heart of the limestone mountains. The scenery was beautiful and we stopped at the highest point at a little roadside viewpoint to appreciate the view and get some snaps.

We continued on and arrived a little late at Konglor and had to rush down to the caves in order to secure a boat for the trip. The boats were very small. A maximum of three people and only an inch of clearance between the water level and the top of the boat. Very sketchy. We had to get a small rowboat over the bottom section of the river and in the mouth of the cave we got onto a similar boat with a small two stroke prop outboard and off we went up the cave. It was really pretty amazing but very very dark. Some French people had paid to put solar lights in at a small section of the cave so you could get a good look at

006

Tad Leuks resident moggies

some of the weird and wonderful rock formations but for the large part we were in almost pitch blackness, except for the headtorches of our two guides. On the way back through our guide looked up and we saw a large group of bats hanging from the ceiling. Once back to the guesthouse, we ordered some food and enjoyed the views out to the limestone mountains and enjoyed the sunset.

Another early start the next day and the road to the Mokey Forest was flooded due to the wet season so we headed off to Savanaket which was a place our guide had never been before and we were told we were going to be the guinea pigs for. We tried to stop at a waterfall for lunch but they had changed their policy and so we would have had to pay for the entrance fee just to sit at the benches outside so we continued on and went down a random road which someones house. They informed us that if we walked down behind their house for a km or so we would find a base camp for adventurers who came to climb the limestone mountains in

008

Tad Leuks resident moggies

the dry season. It was a pretty cool set-up with bamboo bungalows all in a circle with a big bar/communal area on stilts in the middle.The trip took a long long time and 6 hours quickly became almost 8 and a half and we arrived quite late. We had a quick bite to eat and headed out to find a bar. We tried a Lao nightclub first but left quickly when, before we could order a beer, our guide was asked if he would like a lovely lady... We moved on to another bar in the centre of town and had a good few beers and then headed off to see the rumored 'Savan Vegas Casino'. The town is the second biggest in Laos after the capital but seemed a bit quiet so we weren't sure if the Casino existed but it very much did and was pretty amazing! Only photos from the outside though as, as everywhere, no photos allowed inside the Casino.

The next day we headed off at 9 and were on our way to Tad Lo, another small village with a waterfall. We stopped on the way at a place called chicken village for

009

The Gang!

lunch. Here there were about 12 restaraunts who all sold the same 2 things; and entire gutted chicken, head still attached, on a stick, cooked over a barrel of charcoal or on another stick, the brain, heart, liver and lungs of aforementioned chicken. Our stomachs still feeling a little rough from the chillis in our dinner the night before, coupled with the apprehension of seeing women running around in the rain with 5 or 6 chickens under an umbrella trying to sell them to passing cars, we opted for a tube of pringles and a coke. Not very cultured I know but we still had 4 hours on a bus afterwards so played it safe. We arrived in Tad Leuk around 4 just in time to watch the washing of the elephants. There are three of them who live at a hotel up the hill from where we were staying. Cheryl and I paid up for a ride the next day and we had some Steak and Chips. (I know, uncultured blah blah blah, but it was one of the best steaks either of us have ever had in our lives)

We awoke at 7 the next day

010

Tad Leuks resident moggies

to prepare for our elephant ride and were greeted with torrential rain! We discussed it and decided that an elephant ride at 8am in the pissing rain was maybe not going to be as much fun as it could be and decided to go and get our money back. By the time we had found someone who understood and explained that we couldn't come back later as our bus left at 9 the rain had almost stopped but we decided that we could try and do it on Koh Samui instead where we could maybe do it at a more convenient time and in some better weather. We had some brekky and headed off. We had a couple of good stops today, first of which was a coffee plantation tour with Mr Coffee. Mr Coffee was a very nice Dutch man who had moved to Laos to live his dream of growing and roasting his own coffee. He took us on a big tour of his plantation and explained to us all about Arabica and Robusta coffee plants and the differences between him. When we went back to his shop he roasted up some beans then and there and made

012

Tad Leuk Waterfall

us some of the best coffee I have ever tasted and even Cheryl tried some; she was not turned on to it. We stopped at another waterfall for lunch and found a very posh little coffee shop which was weird because, not only was it situated smack dab in the arse end of nowhere, but it had the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my life climbing all over the rafters and a huge rhinocerous beetle sitting on a tree in the middle above our table, secured by a footlong leash made from thread. Very Strange. We finished up our lunch and headed on to Pakse. The hostel in Pakse was stinking. Worst place we stayed the whole trip. Just a minging mould smell throughout the room and not very clean but, as they say, a sunny side to every situation; they used old bombshells as bins and round the corner was the most spectacular rooftop bar where we whiled away the evening with a few beers and the best Mai Thai Cheryl has tasted so far.

We were up early the next morning to head to Vat Phou; a recent addition to the UNESCO World Heritage

013

Tad Leuk Waterfall

sites list. The temple is in ruins and is half way up a mountain and has a natural spring which the locals believe produces holy water. The view itself was amazing, as were the stone carvings and the experience of washing ourselves in the warm natural spring and feeling the cleansing spirit wash away the sins of Mai Thai. It chucked down the whole time we were up there but that just added to the atmosphere as it created a mysterious and eerie feel to the whole place. We had to drive on to Don Det in the 4000 Islands at the Southern-most point in Laos and our guide offered either a 3 and a half hour road trip for free, or we could take the bus on a ferry for the budget price of 10000 kip (80p) per person. We all, fed up of the bus, vouched for the ferry. All I will say is that it was an intense experience and I will direct you to the photos to get an idea of the experience.

At the port, we said goodbye to our lovely local guide Noy and caught a small boat out to the island.

018

The Limestone mountain viewpoint

Some people were a little dissapointed by the simplicity of the Island (It has only had electricity for two years) but they're dissapointment was combatted by the discovery of 'Happy Shakes' which included a particular class B ingredient which grows like wild weed on the island. Cheryl and I did not partake and were glad we didn't as all the young ones headed off to bed early, too spaced out to continue. We spent our last night with our favourite folks, (sorry everyone else, we loved you but you have to give credit where credits due) Juggs and Whales; our Kiwi and Aussie companions. We went to a couple of bars, including the most arrogant and self absorbed 'Reggae Bar' where some very silly people who had smoked to much ganja sat around and discussed how to bring about world peace. I'm sure they could acheive it if they could just put down the doobie. We ended our evening with a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of Whisky on the balcony of our hostel to the backdrop of an epic thunder and lightning storm and all in all, had an excellent night.

The next morning we stumbled

018 (2)

across the road from the stray office

down the slippery steps back to the rivers edge and boarded our little boat back to the mainland to begin our 50 hour journey to Koh Samui.

But that, my friends, is another blog all together.

See you in the funnies.
x

Additional photos below

Photos: 86, Displayed: 30