Pakse

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Pakse itself is a tiny town, and the only reason for coming here was to visit the one street town of Chamapasak which is where Wat Phu is found. Wat Phu is believed to have been built before Angkor Wat, and probably served as the "full dress rehearsal" for Angkor Wat. I wanted to see Wat Phu before I got to see Angkor.

The night bus arrived in Pakse at 07:45. By the time I got a hotel room, showered and shaved, it was too late to take one of the "standard" tours from Pakse to Wat Phu, which all seemed to leave at 08:00. So, I took a local share taxi, called a Song Thauw ... similar to the Phillipino Jeepneys ... to Champasak and walked from there. I didn't realize it was over a 10 km walk. And by the time I got there, it was time to turn around and walk back or risk missing the last Song Thauw back to Pakse. Since I didn't fancy sleeping out in some paddy field, I only had a peek at Wat Phu.

I debated going back to Wat Phu the next day to see it properly, but, the only bus to Phnom Penh was a day bus leaving at 07:00. Since I had such limited time left, I figured Phnom Penh was worth 2 days, and as such Wat Phu has to wait for another day.

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