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Published: February 22nd 2006
The donut lady of Vientian
After a thoroughly mediocre lunch (too much tripe), this angel appeared in our path. Restraint was difficult.Okay, usual disclaimer about how this date is really not the date of entry but is the date of actual occurrence. Date setting helps keep the blog current and the people organized. That said... Our travels in Laos, originally scheduled for only 2 weeks, have now run in excess of three weeks and very nearly frighten a month. After Vang Vieng (which was completely un-Lao), we boarded some inflatable kayaks and headed south. Now this really was a good sell. Sign says, "Going to Vientian? Like Adventure?"or something like that. We thought 'sure' and signed up for what was billed as a kayak from VV to Vientian. In reality (which never seems to match fantasy for those of us not named Mick Jagger or George W Bush) we travelled for 2 hrs by van to the drop off point and then paddled for some 3-4 hrs , marked by one really awesome rapid and some minor ones to boot. Proud to say this was Aneta's first rapid/kayak experience which was a triumph since one of our guides actually capsized and we didn't - though not sure what that's saying about the guide. Anyway- after paddling we spent 2 more hrs in
Buddha Park
Getting our art groove on a pickup to the city. Please note that the straight bus-ride is only 3.5 hrs so we can't really be sure where we were or went. Trip included lunch which did NOT inlcude baguettes since the guides boat flipped in the rapids (see above) and the food (bread) was soaked to non-eatable status but the bar-b-que was great. We did the trip with Jimmy and Blanka, new friends met while tubing in VV. Funny enough also from Brighton, UK, which makes over half a dozen people we've met from there alone. Makes you wonder who is actually there now anyways?
Next we arrived in Vientian. This is a classic ex-pat city with bars and restaurants which give you a bill with three payment options including USD, Lao Kip, and Thai Baht. Change also comes in many forms depending on what the guy next to you paid with. There is little to see except some various temples and Buddha park. This is a green area, about 1 hr drive out of town, filled with Buddhist and Hindu statues and mythological structures which appear hundreds of years old but, in reality (please see above), is only 40-50 yrs old and the
Bolaven Waterfall
Went for a swim and Dirk even took a much needed shower brain child of a guy who wanted to create a quasi-religious site. It's a fun half-day trip anyways and reasonably good restaurant on the grounds. Beer Lao please. We laughed for a while at the menu after realizing that none of the four of us could actually decipher what in the world most of the items (written in english) meant. Actually- I was tempted to title this entry "An end of an affair"- as this is where Jon met Jimmy- and the chemistry was really undeniable. In fact, I would almost say it was like meeting Jon's British twin- and realizing how much funnier he might be with a British accent. We spent several days with them while in Vientiane- Blanka and I chatting on the side and laughing at the appropriate cues whenever Jimmy and Jon got on a role- which was frequent. They were really quite funny together and the four of us had a great time. Anyway- I wasn't sure Jon would fully recover when we parted ways - luckily, he was soon himself again😊
While in the Lao capital, Dirk and Katriene arrived at the hotel after being wholly unimpressed with Vang Vieng. Also
Chillin on Don Det
Aneta finally got her hammock on the porch arriving and seen on the streets were just about everyone we've met along the way as this route tends to be standard with an option to exit across the Friendship Bridge back to Thailand. We planned to head south and, after a small visa extension issue (it was a day late - missed bus with free reschedule), we left for Pakse and the south, bidding farewell to Blanka and Jimmy, Northen Lao, and the only ATM which accepted foreign cards for the last month. At I am sure a hefty fee.
We travelled south by VIP bus which had no chickens, no all night karyoke, and even dinner upon deprture. WOW. Arriving in Pakse at 6 am we immediately headed for a nice hotel for a clean bathroom and western toilettes disguised as a buffet breakfast (which also was quite good). After much discussion and contemplation, we settled on a trip to the Bolaven plateau in the central region of southern Lao. This area is known for magnificent waterfalls and some of the world's best coffee. Before you all start planning a Sunday morning visit to our eventual home, we didn't buy any coffee. The image of a
Honeymoon carriage
It wouldn't have been Asia without an elephant ride. Even better was watching them get fed afterwards. 10 kilo of banana please... broken bag and roasted beans intermixed with all of our stuff in our bags was too much of a deterrent. But we did drink a lot of tasty coffee with sweetened condensed milk (the recommended way). Only down side came at one breakfast where they had the nerve to serve us instant coffee. I maintain this must be a felonious crime in this part of the country but there was no one around to confirm this. Alas we returned to Pakse and headed by minibus to Si Phan Don, aka the 4000 islands. At this point, please open another browser window and google an image of Laos, 4000 islands.
Okay now you have some idea about what happens when the Mekong river, which has made it's way from western China and all through Lao, now fans out to create innummerable islands (I personally counted 3762 but imagine there are more), waterfalls, rapids, and a generally singular area on earth. Days were spent bicycling around the island of Don Det and Don Khon along rugged paths and carrying the bikes across 100 yr old railway bridges. We made our way to the southern tip of the southern island where,
Watching the Doplhins at Sunset
As the Lonely Planet promised, at 4 pm the dolphins arrived. View of Aneta on the rock in the middle of the Mekong. for a paltry dollar and a half, we were taken by boat to see the rare and rapidly disappearing fresh water Iriwaddy dolphins. Mostly we saw their dorsal fin in the distance, but since they are endangered and expected to be extinct in the next few years due to dynamite fishing etc, it was well worth it. From this southern point you can see Cambodia in the distance - wetting our appetite and arousing our anticipation for our next destination. Other amusement was gained by the fact that our initial boat started to sink so we had to separate to two separate boats to view the dolphins. I brought along the dry bag and was entrusted with all the passports on the boat. The bridges we crossed we better ignore, but the return road was rocky enough to be considered an overly wide hiking trail than an actual transport road. Along the way we met up with Iain and Nikki who were seated behind us on the bus from Vientian. More folks from the London area but actually South Africans by trade.
We parted ways with our Belgian friends after four days in the islands. That made about 3
Bridge over Troubled water
Okay, I did walk across this one but returned to take the bikes through the gulley, not over the bamboo. weeks of travel companionship on and off and was sad. As everyone else headed to Cambodia by land, we returned to Pakse to fly to Siem Reap. It seems that it is quite easy to do this land crossing and they even issue visa on arrival, however, the whole trip may take as much as 14 to 20 hrs and we opted for the more direct 1 hr flight. The flight was indeed direct but rather bumpy and I'm fairly certain that Aneta, who sat in crash position the entire length of the flight, would have easily preferred an extended commute on four wheels to a tiny propellor plane that didn't even bother with a safety (or any) announcement. Couple of things to mention are that Don Det, where we stayed only has electricity from 6pm to 9 pm. Many restaurants have it longer but every time someone orders a blending shake or drink the lights flicker. Apparently, there is one larger island which has 24 hr power. Internet was therefore basically nonexistent. Why do you care, you don't, but we often check our blog for any new comments (love them!) and read other blogs for travel info so we thought we'd put some into ours. Some recommendations are for the new Chinese hotel in Pakse down the street from the Indian restaurant and the minibus to and from Pakse to Si Phan Dan. Let's face it, 2 hrs vs 4 is worth 2 extra dollars. Oh yeah- and definitely pre-order the steamed fish in banana leaf at Mr. Mo's.
As always, some titles of our entries might be confusing. I imagine this is one of them. Kop Jai (phonetically spelled) is how you say thank you in Lao. Kop jai la lai is thank you very much. Kop jai mai means nothing. Dirk got it into his head some time between entering Lao and arriving in Pakse that this phrase actually had a meaning and we estimate it is a mix of the above phrases and one that means "see you later" which has a "mai" in it in Flemish. So we said, "what do you think you're saying". And he maintained it was a real phrase. Thus we went to the authorities. Not the police just a local man and asked. Upon hearing kopjai mai his face went blank and he informed us that indeed it has no meaning at all. But now it is like a little friendly mantra between the Belgians and us. So after parting ways we want to wish Dirk and Katriene safe travels and a warm "Kop Jai Mai".
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Stephanie
non-member comment
Having Fun
Well as we are still having rain and your pictures look warm and glorious, I again say, "I am soooooo jealous" Have a great one. Me