Blogs from Si Phan Don, South, Laos, Asia - page 5

After spending a rather uninspiring two nights in Vientiane traveled by "sleeper bus" down to Pakse which is the close to the 4000 islands area of southern Laos. That was interesting, as the oversold the bus and wanted me to sleep in a 3 foot buy 3 foot box with another person, ended up sitting in the very back where i had at least a little bit of room to stretch the legs, felt sorry for the person on my side and also in front of me. had to check out of my room in the morning and walked around in the heat until the bus left at night, needless to say i was a little ripe and my feet aren't too pretty or clean for that matter. sucks for them! Also my feet will no ... read more

Don Det of the 4,000 islands in Laos........... 3rd March - flew into Pakse, Laos from Cambodia. We seem to have made a mistake in coming from Cambodia to Laos as you cannot get a visa on the border unless you fly, which will cost you $100. So anyway, we had to fly and then spent a night in Pakse in Laos where we got our 30 day visa. Pakse is a pleasant place, not much to do but we managed to get a pizza and had a beer or 3 at the local bus station bar which seemed to be full of the Laos young people as opposed to the farang places up the road. Tues 4th, heading to an area called 4,000 islands, its a cluster of islands on the Mekong river, and we're ... read more

We left Cambodia the same day that Laos Airlines must have been having a training day for their pilots, there was one part during the landing that we honestly thought that we were going to die but thankfully we touched down in Pakse in Southern Laos and proceeded with the usual 20 stage Visa process which seems to been the norm in South East Asia. Visas Done!! Now after a 2 hour van ride which we have now learnt that 2 hours actually means 5 hours in Laos, we board the boat finally for the last part of the days travel and after all the sore arses, near death plane rides we arrive at what must be the most chilled out place that we have ever visited!!!!!!!!! Don Det is part of the Si Phan Don ... read more

Monkey! Well...it got your attention didn't it? Yes, I was fortunate enough to connect with a wee monkey. The details of it's reality are not so fortunate though. I will tell more later. I am back in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, after taking a bus across the border from Pakse, Laos. I am burning up a few hours with 3 other travelers who are all headed back tonight on a sleep train. We almost didn't get on this train as it was full, we stood around trying to figure out what to do when the ticket attendant waved us over and let us know there were 4 cancellations and that we could have these 4 second class sleeper spots. What a relief! It would not have been the end of the world, but probably a somewhat expensive ... read more

Laos is one of those countries that seems to attract universal rave reviews from the backpacker community. Nestled away in the womb of South-East Asia as it is, I thought however it might offer up the same sort of experiences that I’d been having in Cambodia and Vietnam, only in an isolated, landlocked kind of way. Despite these pre-conceptions, I couldn’t ignore that the famously laid-back, relaxed Lao way of life was to be seen almost everywhere as soon as we crossed the border from Vietnam. Arriving in Savannakhet, a key border post serving crossings into both Vietnam and Thailand, it was only natural to expect a thriving centre of commerce and trade. What greeted us however was a sleepy riverside town which could almost have been described as deserted, were it not for the handful ... read more