http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Laos , South , Pakxe en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:50:33 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:50:33 +0000 Because of a scheduling glitch regarding the Vat Phou Cruise we ended up with an extra day between it and our flight to Siem Reap so we took advantage of the time to check out the Bolaven Plateau just east of Pakse Laos. Pakse is the third largest municipality in Laos after Vientiane and Savannakhet although I don't think any of them has as many as 100000 inhabitants the entire country has o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-454050.html So time for some adventure.I nath had wanted to do a challenging trek whille on this trip to SE Asia perferably in Laos as there seems to be less 'mass tourism treks' and the companies that offer them are often linked into financially supporting the communities travellers visit on the treks.We'd struggled finding a company who did 3 days 2 night treks into the deep jungle during the wet season http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-424648.html Scam in Laos Bus ride from Savannakhet to PakseNever secondguess We caught a bus ride from Savanakhet to Pakse. A ride that was supposed to take 4 hours and easily could have without all the stops turned out to be more than 6 hours. The bus driver and his business minded wife complete with trusty clipboard stopped constantly along the way picking up and dropping off people parcels and oth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-421327.html Been in Pakse in Laos for a few days now. The weather has been pretty rainy so I'm working out my next move at the moment. I'm either going south to chill on an island or north towards the Vietnam border crossing.I went on a tour yesterday and saw some waterfalls teacoffee plantations and local minority villages. The scenery in Laos is amazing I just wish the sun would come back out as it's been http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-418733.html This blog has been moved to here....httpwww.getjealous.combeyondhalong http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-418493.html We got to town about 8.30am but there were no buses in sight and lets face it we were really trying our luck with this bit of the routeWe decided to try and hitch a ride. Not much luck people kept stopping but only to say they had no room. Until...........................................A really nice looking 4x4 pulled up and agreed to take us to Thakek. So we all slung our bags in the back http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-412199.html We don't look much like backpackers or locals with our little roll behind suitcases but they let us on to the International Bus which goes from Ubon bus station to Pakse via Chong Mek. The trip was a lot simpler than what my 10 year old guide book had said it would be. This trip was for my 50 th birthday and I was thinking about what to do for my mid life crisis I considered a pony tail and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-397312.html After one night back in Vientiane I took an overnight bus to Pakxe Laos. I was told that the bus was a sleeper. In South America that would mean that the seats recline all the way and the legs lift up. Not so in Laos. There were upper and lower bunk beds on the bus singles on the left and doubles not much bigger than singles on the right. Unfortunately the truck that pickedme and a few ot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-397208.html Viime paivina minua on erityisesti ihastuttanut pienet ja vahan suuremmatkin lapset. Hoi Anista matkattiin Vietnamin ystavallisimpaan kaupunkiin nain mainosti opaskirja ja tuntui olevan ihan oikeassa lahelle Laosin rajaa. Bussiasemalta hypattiin ihanien leveasti hymyilevien ruskeiden setien moottoripyorakyytiin ja se kyyti huristi ihan hotellin ovista sisaan asti Puolessa paivassa ehdittiin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-376622.html typen in de nachtbudshet mg al eens meezitten we boeken op het laastte moment een ticket voor de nchtvbus nar ventiane 'of zoiet en we vrgen grote bedden vanwege onze lngte geen probleem bleek. Weliggen achteraan hebben eigenlijk 5 plaatsen en hopen dat de bus niet meer stopt tot eindbestemming.Je zou kunnen verwachten dat ik bij het posten van deze tekst nog een edit doe om het gehobbeld ier http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-375081.html Jabbadii of zoietsZou hallo betekenen... Kop tchai of zoiets dankuwel... We zijn op weg weer vier woorden op te pikkenDeze morgen was zo'n echte maandagmorgen Opgestaan rond 8.30 ontbijt genomen rugzakken gepakt nog wat gebabbeld met een italiaan en tegen 11 de boot op om de bus te nemen naar Pakse. De volgende halte richting Luang Prabang of zoiets. Een vlotte rit en drie uur la http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-374236.html Since our last entry we've made it into Laos and back out again into Vietnam so we're a bit behind on the blog updates.Getting in to Laos was our first border crossing without having to get on a plane and it couldn't have been easier. From the Thai border town of Chiang Kong we just had go to a little shed to get stamped out of Thailand and then jumped on a longtail boat across the Mekong river to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-371458.html Time to bring you up to date gang.... we've been a bit slack on the blog but as you will hear it is not really the Lao way to rushworkdo things on time... ''don't worry no problem we have time''.......We were in Laos for a month so this may be a long entry but with none of you at work because of the snow we've heard sooo much about you've got time.......Where do we start with Laos.... well a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-370691.html Saturday 24thJanuaryWe had breakfast and intended getting the local bus outside our guest house to Pakse about 40km away. As we paid the owner our bill the bus sped past early. He said not to worry as he'd take us to the ferry to catch the bus up. This he did but the bus was already departing on the Heath Robinson catamarran that passes for a car ferry. All the locals know each other and the ow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-367658.html Zajtrk je bil podoben vecerji spet sva zradirala eno celo lubenico tokrat le za 5k kip ponjo sem sla jaz how do I do it. Zraven seveda bagete. Vse to na verandi obsijani z jutranjim soncem. Nice we likePoklicala sva v nek guesthouse v Pakseju kamor sva bila namenjena da se ne bi spet zajebavala kot v Vientianu ker je bil prihod nacrtovam pozno popoldne. Klic je bil malo zmeden oz. re http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-366029.html What a great week The south of Laos did not disappoint at all and we really loved what we experienced here. From Tha Kaek we headed south to Savannahket but just for a day. Nice little very sleepy town. Our highlight were the monks in the garden of the monastery belonging to Wat Sainyaphum who wanted to practice their English with us. They were most intested in how much our journey to Laos wou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-365673.html Dobbiamo raccontare un po' di avvenimenti passati a cominciare dall'anno nuovo che qua non e' il 2009 ma come in thailandia il 2553 anche se sembra di essere nel 1400 anzi quasi 1500Il nuovo anno e' iniziato con un 3 giorni di trekking nella giungla. Il 31 abbiamo cercato di arrivare fino a mezzanotte almeno per celebrare l' anno nuovo e devo dire che la citta' di Luang Nam Tha al nord si e' http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-363989.html I find myself in an internet cafe in the transit hub of Southern Laos with 5 hours to kill until the overnight bus to Vientienne. Technically I should be back in the UK as my aroundtheworld ticket was only valid for 12 months but due to the small detail that is my travelling addiction I am still on the road and now back in South East Asia. They say life often moves in circles and my life for th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-363333.html Whoa An action packed blog entry lies in store for those with the patience to stick around... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-359884.html 100cc of Honda 4 stroke power No faster than 90kmhr Averaging 30kmhrhellip You donrsquot want to go any faster. Off the main road there are potholes when therersquos good roads there are other hazardshellip young children running across the road ducks chickens cows dogs buffalo other cars motorbikes chickens roosters snakes and pigs. The need for concentrating is at a prem http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-357893.html