The Bolaven Plateau.....

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Dear All,

From Vientiane (vietnamese visas in hand) we took an over night bus down to a town called Pakse. The bus is worth mentioning as we had these amazingly cushty beds with duvets and air con and fluffy pillows and people walking around handing out snacks - so all in all quite luxurious!

When I said before I was still yet to see the sleepy towns of Laos people kept telling me about well this was definately it. It is quite literally a ghost town where even the locals don't seem to be on the streets. The whole town consists of one road with a fruit market at the end of it. We were happy however to be here so checked into a nice little guesthouse on the mekong river.

When seeing our friend Lea on the Thai islands she had recommended to us a road trip she did through the Bolevan Plateau as many tour operators offer to take you around but apparently its better to do yourself. The Bolevan Plateau is a large circular area which takes around 3 days to drive the whole loop where there are an abundance of natural waterfalls, villages and coffee plantations with really stunning scenery. We were really anxious to see a bit of the countryside and get out of the towns for a while so before I knew it I was learning to ride a gear bike and we were hitting the road to our first destination (on this small scale rather un clear map). With Laura and Alice on a bike ahead of me we quickly realised we were in fact heading in the opposite direction to where we were supposed to be going so re-routed and ended up going way too far down a particular road and missing the turning for the town where we were to get lodging. We didn't see anything on our first day but ended up finding this little diamond in the rough guest house to stay in where we ate dinner and hit the sac. The next day (laura feeling quite un well) Alice and I rode over to some nearby waterfalls and had lunch in this little roadside shack. It was very peaceful where we were and there were no foreigners which was great and we got to play with the local children in the waterpools. The next day (Laura feeling better again) we rode on headed back to Pakse but passing another spectacularly beautiful waterfall along the way. Even though we didn't stop off that much it felt great just riding along through these epic fields and tiny villages and amazing landscapes and not having the comfort of english speaking tourists or internet cafes or anything like that, it definately felt more of an adventure! Half way through heading home we started to ride along a broken dirt track which was fun at first but then started to get steeper, dustier and un even. This was really challenging to get through but after a lot of perseverance and slow driving we got through it. I think I am beginning to see how people become bikers for life as its so much fun! Maybe I will have to buy a (fake) leather jacket when I get home and become a biker chick! Haha.

We arrived safely back in Pakse and just as we were headed back to our guesthouse where our bags were being stowed I bumped into a friend Scarlett from back home. It was crazy, we pretty much had done the exact same route from India all the way here but had never seen eachother before hand. It was great to catch up and will be seeing her back in Brighton when we get home.

From Pakse we headed on to the most southern part of Laos called Four Thousand Islands. We got a local bus there as its alot cheaper to do it that way and we thought we'd get involved 'and do as the people do'. We queued to get our tickets for the mini bus. It turned out not to be a mini bus at all but more of an open aired wagon. We were shoved in like tuna in a tin and made to sit on these iron benches for four hours as the wagon spluttered along the creaky, windy paths. I had a chicken sat next to me. It was fantastic. My bum did feel like it was on fire by the end however. Four thousand island gets it name from being thousands of tiny little grassy islands poking out from the Mekong creating a very kerelan backwateresque feel. You have to get a little boat across to the main island (Don Det) and even just doing that little journey on the long boat at about 5 p.m. we passed little villages on stilts over the waters and children swimming and playing, women washing clothes it was lovely. We stayed in a wooden hut overlooking the river with hammocks and the lot! Unfortunately we are pushing into monsoon and it rained quite a bit which stopped us from exploring too much as the whole island is made up of mud tracks. This was again a very sleepy place with hardly anyone around which was great as we spent quite a lot of time chilling out and reading in the hammocks. One day whilst walking to one of the few restaurants we heard music blaring from one particular cafe. When walking past we were excitedly invited in by a very drunken Laos women to come and celebrate with her and her family some sort of wedding. The couple in question weren't actually there for some reason and our quite large language barrier failed to uncover the reason. We were made to dance to some quite shocking Laos music and forced to drink their local brew Lao Lao. I say forced we really were as they suddenly looked very offended when we tried to refuse. Lao Lao is a very strogn spirit made from who knows what that tastes like pure petrol and has that exact effect. After having around 7 shots and danced for around half an hour we decided it best to leave before we hit the floor. I was glad to have been as it was my only real contact (apart from in the Bolevan Plateau) with actual Laos people that weren't in the service industry or something like that and even though half of them were drunkenly slurring it was nice to chat and converse :-)

I have now arrived back in Pakse as a short connection stop to Danang in Vietnam! This is on the coast by the sea so we are expecting to have a few beachy days there before heading up to Hanoi to meet our friend Sonia. I have loved Laos and have had very different experiences from the north and the south. I think most people stay up north as its very touristy but I have much much prefered the south as it is more quiet and alot more scenic. It is alot alot alot more wealthy than I had ever imagined as it seems everywhere you go there are grand looking buildings and boulevards full of posh housing and big shopping malls (in some places) - I had never expected any of this. The Laos people like the Thai's are very soft mannered and just generally lovely and eager to help. I'm looking forward to Vietnam as so many people have said it their favourite country in south east asia. There is alot more to come!


Lots of love,


Meg

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