It's raining, it's pouring

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Rain is the common theme since I left Vientiane at 5am two days ago.  On the way to the bus station it pelted down so hard I thought the tuk-tuk driver had parked us underneath a waterfall.  The sound ofthe rain hitting the bus station's tin roof was so loud I had to shout at the guy behind the ticket counter for him to hear where I wanted to go.  The seven hour bus trip to That Khaek went surprisingly quickly. I sat next to a very nice Lao woman who gave me gum and tried to share her baguette and dried chicken with me.  She insisted on speaking to me in Lao once she knew I could speak the language a little bit; mostly it was beyond me and even though I kept apologizing for not understanding what she was on about, well, she kept on talking.  Soon, half the bus knew where I was going: the word was passed back like some weird chain game. 
Tha Khaek is a sleepy but pictureque little town by the side of the Mekong.  Picturesque in a rundown, seen better days way.  The French colonial architecture makes the place really pretty as do the street lined with trees that sometimes bend over and touch heads in the center of the road.  It rained on and off for part of the day.  At one point, the horizon at one end of the Mekong was black with rain clouds - then the rain came pelting down and it all cleared up again.  Viewing the sunset was hampered by all the clouds but it was relaxing to watch the sun disappear over Thailand on the opposite side of the river.
I caught a sawngtaew to Savannakhet at 8am this morning.  An elderly man decided to strike up a conversation.  We made do with my limited Lao.  Once the rest of the passengers joined in I was lost.  80%!o(MISSING)f what they said at high speed was completely lost to me.  The driver of the sawngtaew should get in touch with the Ferrari racing team: he was a speed demon.  We barreled along the road and only slowed when we needed to avoid a cow, a buffalo or a goat on the road.  At one point there were about 16 of us squashed into the back of this converted ute.  My left leg was turning numb and the old woman sitting next to me kept spitting out the vehicle very close to my shoulder.  Doing loud burps in my face apparently is also acceptable.  Charming. 
So, Savannakhet is also quiet.  There aren't many other travellers around which is pleasant.  The rainy season isn't the best time to travel here as I discovered when I had to hole up in my guesthouse for three hours upon arrival to wait for the rain to stop.  Again, it's a rather charming place to stop.  Laid-back, beautiful old buildings falling into disrepair; all at the edge of the Mekong.
Rain, rain go away.

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