Advertisement
Published: March 4th 2012
Edit Blog Post
Leaving the lads at airports, the girls met some days later at Pakse, the gateway to Champasak and the Four Thousand Island (Si Phan Don) of the ‘mighty mekong’. We opted for the easier travel of a car and driver on our custom route, easily organised at the Provincial Tourism Office of Pakse. Wat Phu Champasak, in the late afternoon light, was an eerie, almost mystical site. The pavilions, although partially destroyed, were beautiful – and made more beautiful by the trusty pink umbrellas. What was unexpected was the grand view across the open plains from the upper levels. Champasak itself was nothing to write home about.We stayed in a very ordinary guesthouse, but with a deck right out over the Mekong.
Our first stop in Si Phan Don was Don Khong. The first part of the car ferry trip was sitting on a dilapidated boat moored alongside the ferry, and pumping the bilge of the ferry to keep it afloat. Getting the car on the ferry required driving from the river sand, over planks to the ferry. Better XX than us driving! Stayed at a beautiful French colonial style hotel – way upmarket from the previous night. Drove around
the island, visiting many beautiful Wats and the palm sugar tree climber. The afternoon cycle was a treat – followed by a gin and tonic on the deck on the bank of the river.
We went to Don Khon by a small long boat (that does make sense), boarding beside our hotel. The river got wider and wider, with lots of islands. Not much traffic on the river. We stayed in a cabin on the river bank. After a short rest in the obligatory hammock, we needed off on bicycles to the spectacular Li Phi Falls. Amazing to see the fishing nets holding fast against the current. The adventure began in earnest when a sudden torrential downpour occurred. We took cover in the bushes for a while, but that really did not help. So we got on our bikes and rode with little visibility, mud sloshing up from the back wheel, and shared the road with bullocks and women scurrying home from the fields. The power then went our across the island. So the extra $1 we paid for air conditioning and hot water was just wasted! Dinner was a walk in the rain and mad to a candle
lit place on the river. Actually great fun and great food. A bar on the water front had some well preserved photos of the early colonial days of the French in the area.
We took a long boat to meet our driver at Ban Nakasang on the eastern bank of the Mekong. The passage from boat to car happened very fast, we some man grabbing our backpack off the boat and racing away. We stayed close to him and eventually all was as our driver had planned - it was just us who didn’t know the plan. We headed south to Khon Phapheng Falls, which were even more powerful than the Li Phi Falls. No wonder the French thought of the amazing scheme of putting boats on trains to make the Mekong a navigable river.
Heading off the highway, along pretty rough road, we arrived at Kiet Ngong in the Xi Pian National Protected Area. There we negotiated the ways and means of mahouts and elephants. Or at least Fiona did – Catherine just hung on finding that this was not within the comfort zone. We hypothesised about the ancient ruins on top of Phou Asa Mountain –
very little seems to be known about them.
Back to Pakse, and our choice of a nice hotel to finish our wonderful trip. We floated on silk after the well earned massage and facial in the hotel.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 14; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0411s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb