Blogs from Si Phan Don, South, Laos, Asia - page 10

Well... We left Phnom Penh (the second time) on a bus bound for stung treng, a city in Cambodia from which we could reach the border crossing to Laos. Our Guesthouse owner assured us that the bus ride was five hours, but it turned out to be ten. As we neared stung treng we resigned ourselves to spending the night there and hitting the border the next day. When we got off the bus we were given an offer and assurance that we could make it to the border so we said " fuck it! Lets do it!" and hoped in to a mini van with seven other forgeiners. This unoffical border closes at 6pm. We arrived at 6:30. We were invited into a bamboo hut by some very unoffical, topless, border officals who offered us ... read more

After the delights of Vientiane we had to live through the horrors of an overnight VIP bus down to Pakse, a city in the south of Laos. When we started 'traveling' in Australia we thought that overnight busses were the bees knees however every time we take one now it just gets a little more painful. It isn't just the lack of leg room and having to sit sleeping up but also the constant stops for snacks along the route and the way the bus sways from side to as the driver hurtles through the dark and winding roads. After the bus colliding with an ox incident in Thailand and reports from our friend Patrick of thieves going through the bags in the locked hold as the passengers sleep we were very keen to get this ... read more

De volgende ochtend nemen we een minibus naar Stung Treng, waarna we de ferry naar de overkant van de Mekong nemen. Nu ja, ferry, ttz een gemotoriseerde schuit waar we een plek proberen te vinden tussen kinderen, eenden en andere... De meest ongewone en amusante overvaart ooit! Daar wacht niemand ons op... hmm raar. We hebben nochtans de hele trip geboekt en betaald baar Don Det. We lopen wat verloren rond, spreken mensen aan, maar hun Engels is even slecht als mijn Khmer... Uiteindelijk blijkt er iemand te zijn die ons zou verstaan. We worden meegetroond naar die dame, onder nieuwsgierige blikken van de dorpbewoners. Daar wil ze ons een ticket verkopen naar de grens, maar we hebben al betaald, wat met een niet begrijpende frons wordt aangehoord. We worden verzocht neer te zitten, en begint ... read more

Well it had been a pretty hectic time to date trying to squeeze all and sundry into each brief stop before jumping back onto tightly packed buses to do it all again. Si Phan Don was our chance to relax by the river - the toughest choices being where to eat dinner at night and whether to lie in the hammock or sit on the chair - no really. Day 1. After leaving Christophe in Pakse (he was off to Don Khong for a few days) we took a 'bus' ie. small truck with rows of seats in the back down to Nakasang - the departure point for Don Det. Luckily the driver took an instant shining to Nunny so we ended up in the cab rather than squashed into the back with the 40 or ... read more

Wow. I really don't think life could get any slower than this. This has to be the most relaxed place on earth. Don Det is one of "thousands" of islands on the mekong in the south of Laos(although right now with the water being so high I'm sure there are only hundreds). Although the Lao are busy transplanting the rice seedlings right now, apparently in high season business is purely in bungalows, with them working as soon as the first guest is up til the last guest goes to bed. $1 - $2 for a basic bungalow and a hammock, and really that is all you need here. So this entry will be brief because all I did was go for a couple of bike rides down to another island, Don Khon, and chill out in ... read more