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Published: February 21st 2007
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We left Vientiane in high spirits, anxious to see what the Four Thousand Islands had in store for us. After getting a hostel pickup in the price of our ticket to Pakse Mike, Tim, Becky and I were all feeling very pleased with the good value of it all. We had forgotten that if it seems too good to be true it probably is. The tuk tuk arrived at our hostel to collect us, already laden down with 12 other people, the sign on the side said it was a 13 seater vehicle. Ok, I thought, we'll just squeeze up for a bit. We set off with Mike and Tim hanging off the back (Mike with a G and T in his hand) and shortly afterwards picked someone else up. After I protested there was no more room, the guy raised his eyebrows and said ominously "25". Turns out he meant there would be 25 people in total riding on this thing. Cozy. After rounding everyone up we headed off down the dual carriageway to the bus station which was a good 20 minutes away. Throughout the journey a fellow moronic passenger smoked three cigarettes despite being wedged in between everyone
else and the fact it was obviously pretty offensive. Hot sparks were flying everywhere. The low point, however, came when a loud squeal and then a bang was heard from the back of the tuk tuk, directly underneath Tim. We think we must have gotten a flat but nonetheless we continued. Finally we arrived and piled onto a fairly nice coach. After a chilly night (over exuberant aircon) we arrived in Pakse and were herded onto another local bus. The differences between our previous bus and this are too numerous to recount, however I will say our new bus had cockroaches! About halfway into the journey a hatch in the floor where the engine was housed started emitting smoke and sparks. The driver poured a bottle of water into the hatch and we continued our merry way! Half an hour later, unsurprisingly, we had to stop for repairs in a dusty little community. It was nice to be off the bus and stretch our legs and great to see the local sales ladies in full pelt as they scurried across to sell their wares to another bus load of people.
Finally we arrived in a port to catch a
Old train...
a relic from the disused bridge boat to Don Det. The bus drivers were obviously in on some scam and had driven us to a private port where one boat awaited us trying to charge four times the recommended guide book price. After some negotiating we got the price down by half and despite some disgruntled fellow passengers we were on our way.
Don Det is a fantastic place. It is one of four thousand islands in a stretch of the Mekong River. Its about 5 miles from the border of Cambodia and it is a lot less travelled than the north. That is not to say that the tourism trade isn't booming. Don Det is the most backpacker friendly of 3 islands that it is possible to stay on in the area. We stayed in a small bungalow overlooking the river for US$2 per night. A bargain. There are two main streets which contain guesthouses and the rest of the island is farmland. There is no electricity with the exception of individual generators which are used for a few hours after dark and when the backpackers inevitably need their internet fix. We spent five days here cycling across to Don Khon via an old
Peptobismol Bus
The night bus to Pakse railway bridge (the only piece of railway the French ever built in Laos) on cute little bikes with a basket in the front, kayaking and tubing in the Mekong and generally just relaxing in hammocks. On our kayaking excursion we came across a very small island which turned out to be an excellent place for water acrobatics as the slope into the water was steep and it meant that within only a foot of the island the water was deep enough for me to be out of my depth. We christened the island Don Mamy Tab and have sworn an oath that no-one else shall discover it! Every night we would go to one of the restaurants in the north of the island for dinner which would never come in less than an hour.
All in all, a fabulous time was had until Mike was struck down with toothache. He spent a couple of days in our not so comfortable bed and eventually we agreed to head off into Thailand for some medical treatment. By the time we were packed and ready to go, ticket in hand the toothache was gone. This turned out to be very fortunate as
Bus repairs
On the road from Pakse to Ban Nakasang the journey to Bangkok ended up consisting of 4 or 5 hours crammed into the back of tuk tuk with many, many other people and then a long wait at the airport in Ubon Ratchathani. After 14 hours of travel in around 8 different vehicles we made it to Bangkok. I think my least favourtie journey of that day was from the Thai border into Ubon Ratchathani where a very very fat local lady got on the tuk tuk and, in Thai, siad what I presumed to be "move Farang". Farang is the local term for us foreigners and it can be descriptive or offensive. I am guessing this was offensive as she kept it up throughout most of the hour long journey with an accompanying hand swat when anyone else got on and she couldn't be bother to try and move herself to take up less than 3 seats worth of room. It was a low point in what was an otherwise friendly journey.
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