Blogs from Champasak, South, Laos, Asia - page 2

Wednesday 16th February 2011 With our heavy rucksacks weighing us down we walked to the local bus station (would have got tuk tuk if we’d known how far it was) got in Sawngthaew to Wat Phu Champasak, and had to wait for an hour until we were graced with the presence of 16 other passengers to get going. An hour later we arrived to a mass of people as the annual Buddhist festival was taking place. The museum kindly agreed for us to leave our bags while we visited the ruins... We were slightly annoyed that the ‘foreigner’ ticket cost 10x the local entry fee, and in addition, they wanted us to pay to take in our cameras (but that was never going to happen!). There were elephant, crocodile & Buddha’s foot imprints in some of ... read more

Dust and heat are what I remember from Laos. Long long roads with swirling orange clouds. Aching bums from bumpy bus rides, curious looks from dirty children eating lotus seeds. From Phonsavan we got a bus south to Vientiane. It was a funny bus. Most of the buses were run by companies but this seemed to be three guys who had bought a bus and were out to make their fortune. As with most Asian buses, people weren't the only cargo. Previously we'd ridden with a large variety of vegetables. On this occasion, we spent the 11 hour journey with our feet on boxes of amoxicillin and our knees under our chins. As always the people were jammed in. We stopped next to every single pedestrian on the road as the bus boys tried to persuade ... read more

After getting back to Pakse, we randomly ran into Duck, a Korean guy we met previously in Luang Prabang. We were planning on ridding to Champasak that evening, and he wanted to come with us. Unfortunately, all the rental places were out of motor bikes, so after trying to find a bike for him for like 2 hours, we gave up and put him on the back of Fanny's bike and set off for Champasak. The road was kind of cool, but it got dark quickly and we missed our turn off, so we ended up riding an extra 18 km. We got to this small town by the river, which we had to cross, and put our bikes on a small ferry, which was 2 dingy boats with some wood put across. It was pitch ... read more

Fredag den 8.1.2010 En dag vi aldrig glemmer.... Vi har besluttet os at tage til Wat Phu Champasak. Og vi har yderligere taget den beslutning, at vi vil tage turen med offentlige transportmidler i stedet for at blive kørt i minibus. De 50 US som chaufføren fra forleden skal have for at køre os derud og tilbage synes vi er for meget og så lyder det andet også mere spændende (synes vi - ikke ungerne). Det skal dog vise sig, at blive mere spændende end vi havde forventet. Inden vi tager af sted bestiller vi busbilletter til bussen i aften til Vientiane. Afgang er kl. 19.00 fra hotellet og kl. 20.00 fra busstationen. Efter morgenmad på indisk restaurant tager vi en tuk-tuk til busstationen. På den ca. fem minutter lange køretur skal vi lige have benzin ... read more

An Uncomfortable Nights Sleep On Friday night we look the sleeper bus from Vientiane to Pakse. The bus was a bit like a coach, with a number of bunk beds along the sides. Instead of having two people to a bunk though, they had four. A bit of a squish. We were on the back seats so technically had more room. That was until they moved one guy to the back as another man refused to share his bunk. Unfortunately, the mattress across the back weren't even and I was forced to sleep in between the cracks, not comfy. To top it off the guy next to us had to be the world’s loudest snorer. Dad he made you look juvenile. So not the best nights sleep in the world but it was an efficient ... read more