Blogs from Si Phan Don, South, Laos, Asia - page 8

It was relatively easy getting across the Cambodia/Lao border. Had to pay $5 on the Cambodian side for motorbike paperwork that I was supposed to have. This was likely a fabrication, but it is pretty hard to argue with these guys when I am at the edge of the forest in the middle of nowhere and can't read the forms. I headed straight for Si Phan Don (aka the 4000 Islands). As the name suggests, this is a point in the Mekong where the river widens out and slows down, creating 1000's of small sand and rock islands. A few of the larger islands have villages, guesthouses and restaurants. I left the bike with a restaurant on the beach and hopped on one of the little ferries to Don Det. I crashed directly into a ... read more

SOUTHERN LAOS - (March 2007) - (Thursday 29th March to Monday 2nd April) - Thurs 29th - Sat 31st March - (Vang Vieng/ Vientiane/ Champasak) After spending a couple of days in Vang Vieng it was time to move on back to Vientiane for a bus connection to the south of the country and ultimately to Cambodia. After returning to Vientiane and spending the day there, I caught the night bus to Pakse in southern Laos. This time I decided to catch a 'VIP' bus instead of the local bus. Paying for a VIP bus means you get to your destination quicker and get a blanket and a small meal and bottle of water for the journey. However, unfortunately you also get the 'pleasure' of listening to very bad Laos Karaoke music blaring out from the ... read more

Things have taken a much more relaxed pace since we left Vientiane. We caught the overnight bus to Savannakhet as mentioned in the last update, but with a complete lack of forethought decided about an hour out of Savannakhet that we didn't really want to stop there and that actually Pakse would be a better bet. Hung around the Savannakhet bus station with the few other people mad enough to be there at 5am until our next bus left at 7am. One bloke had a brilliant US Army hammock that he strung up on the benches. Bid farewell to David who was sticking with his original plan of seeing what delights Savannakhet had to offer. Uneventful journey to Pakse (the HEAT!!), except for the fact that after 16 hours in a seated position my feet and ... read more

Well my adventures in Laos only seem to get better as we head southward from Luang Prabang. Before I continue though, I want to inform all my readers that the email alerts for my blog updates have been absent for quite awhile, and I had planned to inform everyone with this update, but it seems the website has a new mail server they're testing, so if you haven't read the blog in awhile, take a peek back and there may be new entries that have been written you weren't aware of. In anycase, Laos has been a real delight for me, mainly because there hasn't been a rush to move onwards, and it's always quite refreshing to have more than enough time budgeted for a given location. So, with our freedom of time we decided to ... read more

When I eventually crossed the Cambodian-Laos border I was glad to finally be there. My trip from Phnom Penh to the Laos border took longer than expected and was much worse than I imagined. But that's okay cause traveling here is all about removing any expectations. Many things do not operate in accordance with a clock or by any defined schedule. You just have to take it easy and be very patient, sometimes easier said than done. In fact, I've often heard that the 'PDR' in Laos PDR (People's Democratic Republic) actually stands for "Please Don't Rush" cause things just happen so slowly here. Kind of humorous. So, anyways, I'm at the border. After lots of dusty buses and dirt roads I was able to get my passport stamped again. I did enjoy Cambodia, but the ... read more