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Published: April 27th 2007
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Lao Boat Ride
Taking the long tail boat from Pakse to Champasek There's not too much to write about my short stay in Pakse, where I went to recover from the Loop trip and get money at one of the few ATMs in Laos. It was soooo hot that I spent two days taking cold showers and sitting in front of the fan reading. Quite pleasant actually.
When I decided enough lounging around had been done, I caught a small longtail boat with six other tourists for an hour and a half ride to Champasak. It's a small town with very little traffic. The main attraction are the pre-Angkorian temples. With a German guy Sebastian, who was also on the boat, we rented a couple bicycles and peddled out to the temples. The town itself is quiet and the thatched houses sit close to the road. The children wave and say hello and this being the start of the New Year's festivities, pour water on you as you go by. It felt good and I even started asking them to squirt me more.
Outside of the temple complex is a nice museum housing some of the stone sculptures in and around the temples. Because it was pre-Angkorian and set up
Pre-Angkorian Ruins
View of the roofless temples. by the Khmers, the temples were Hindu based. Mostly dedicated to the Hindi gods, Shiva, Vishnu and Indra. We wondered around a bit, took pictures and then headed back to the town before going out to eat.
The next day Sebastian, Angela and I made our way down to the dock that would take us (and our tuk-tuk, complete with driver) across the river. The cars drive onto the somewhat stable raft and are taken to the other bank of the river. While on the boat we met an Australian couple who were also going to the 4000 islands and said "no worries, mate" when we asked if we could hitch a ride. This cut down on our time getting to Dong Khong, the largest of the 4000 islands. We were excited to see a nice stretch or road with little guesthouses and eateries which overlook the river spotted with with many small islands (some big enough for one erect person) and with fisherman out catching their dinners. We found a guesthouse and settled in and had lunch. It was only 3:00 by the time we arrived, so Sebastian and I decided to get back on the bikes and
The Temple Buddhas
The guidebook described these Buddhas as having a space alien stare. I agree. Greetings Earthlings! do the small loop in the south part of the island. We went to a temple with a beautiful abandoned school in the back. We rode on a smaller path along the river which went right beside people's houses. People in Laos have the reputation for being the most relaxed in southeast Asia. They are sooooooo chilled out. We witnessed them lounging around in the shade under their houses held up by stilts. The whole family is together, listening to music, eating and drinking BeerLao. It was hot, hot, hot. So we stopped several times to take a break and hang out with some friendly locals. I had a watergun that I bought in Pakse and squirted the people on the side of the road and the venders at the little shops where we bought our sodas. It was fun and a good way to have a laugh despite the language barrier.
There was a scenic bit of land towards the end of our bike ride. The water buffalo were munching on grass, the rice fields were every shade of green you could imagine and the sunset was complete with the "God light" bursting from behind the clouds like
Don't Sneeze
Still standing after all these years. you'd see on the front of a Sunday church program pampflet. When we got back we met up with Angela, a Dutch girl that was on our boat, for dinner. We ate morning and evening in the same restaurant, Mr. Pon's. I think I suffered from heat exhaustion and ate very little and went to bed early. I guess riding bikes in 100 degree weather is not a good idea. That's why I did it again the next day.
Sebastian and I headed off earlier to do the norhtern loop, longer and even more shade stingy that the southern loop. We stopped by a few temples and headed towards the village where the local people were celebrating Laos New Year. We met Catrina and Suner, a Danish couple, who we'd met earlier in town and they told us to join them there. The party was crazy. Very loud Laos music, a lot of beer drinking and people putting talc powder on your face for good luck. They also did this kind of dance that was like a passive version of a moshpit. We ate some soup and watched from a distance. Then we headed back to town to eat
and book our tickets for Don Det the next day.
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