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Published: February 9th 2016
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There were quite a lot of things we didn't do today. We didn't get up early and get the boat to the Pak Ou caves, although the thought of a slow motor up the Mekong and back seemed very appealing. We didn't go to the Kwang Si Waterflls either, which was what Sam had wanted to do. Instead, we gave ourselves a break and I researched into hotels with swimming pools we could use.
One non- hotel option was called La Pistoche, out of town so either hire bikes or get a tuktuk. The reviews on Tripadvisor weren't too glowing, so I found one also 5km south out of town. The sister hotel in town is the Villa Santi, on the main road. It has a free shuttle bus to Santi Resort and Spa. The photos looked great. We went for breakfast to Delilahs, on Tripadvisor, the Smile breakfast had eggs and bacon of a sort, and almost-normal bread. The evening menu looked good too. Super speedy wifi, so the photos from my last entry loaded up easily, instead of the Wheel of Doom we have at the guesthouse.
After breakfast we walked down to
the Villa Santi, saying no thank you to tuktuk trips to the waterfalls and asked about the shuttle bus times. The next one was 12.30, and so we went out onto the road to haggle for a tuktuk. Showed the guy the card with the address. How much? A long pause while he pondered how much he could get away with. $10. Off we walk. OK, how much? Settled on half of that (40,000), and we set off slowly up the road, him stopping at every tourist to see if they wanted to go to the waterfalls, Oi! We don't want to go there. Nearly got out, but we made it to the main tuktuk stand and he tried to hijack two Americans who were talking to another driver. They did want to go to the waterfalls. We didn't, so we got out. The American guy tried to say we'd get a better deal as there were more of us. WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE WATERFALL! Our driver said no problem, my friend will take you. We were pissed off and confused by then, so walked away, Sam saying we'd only pay 30.000 now because angry! No point being
angry here. Angry doesn't produce results. Settled on 40,000 this time. He wasn't happy, although the price is OK, and we set off, quite a way. The two Americans tried to flag us down again, laughed when they saw it was us, the non-waterfall people!
On the way we realised we didn't have enough change, oh dear, let's take a wild guess that he won't have any change either. I fished around and found a stray $5, samesame as 40,000. I gave it to him when we arrived, he turned it over and. Hacked it out, then drove off grumpily.
The resort was super-posh. The grounds were stunning, mountains behind, very quiet pool area (cold pool, everyone wincing). The internet said there was a $10 per person charge. We said at reception that we'd come from the other hotel in town and were waved through. Didn't actually say we weren't staying there, and k ew if asked we'd confess. Helped ourselves to some pool towels, met a couple from Branksome who own my new favourite place in Westbourne for coffee, Le Petit Prince. I love their coffee and macaroons! What a coincidence!
We had an
expensive and not very good lunch by the pool. Paid in cash, which is often where you might get sprung, not having a room number to give. But no! Accepted cash, no questions asked. The return free shuttle times were 3pm and 6pm, so waited for the 6pm.
There were quite a lot of things we didn't do today. We didn't get up early and get the boat to the Pak Ou caves, although the thought of a slow motor up the Mekong and back seemed very appealing. We didn't go to the Kwang Si Waterflls either, which was what Sam had wanted to do. Instead, we gave ourselves a break and I researched into hotels with swimming pools we could use.
One non- hotel option was called La Pistoche, out of town so either hire bikes or get a tuktuk. The reviews on Tripadvisor weren't too glowing, so I found one also 5km south out of town. The sister hotel in town is the Villa Santi, on the main road. It has a free shuttle bus to Santi Resort and Spa. The photos looked great. We went for breakfast
to Delilahs, on Tripadvisor, the Smile breakfast had eggs and bacon of a sort, and almost-normal bread. The evening menu looked good too. Super speedy wifi, so the photos from my last entry loaded up easily, instead of the Wheel of Doom we have at the guesthouse.
After breakfast we walked down to the Villa Santi (past the primary school with tuck shop stall outside, very unhealthy offerings on it), saying no thank you to tuktuk trips to the waterfalls and asked about the shuttle bus times. The next one was 12.30, and so we went out onto the road to haggle for a tuktuk. Showed the guy the card with the address. How much? A long pause while he pondered how much he could get away with. $10. Off we walk. OK, how much? Settled on half of that (40,000), and we set off slowly up the road, him stopping at every tourist to see if they wanted to go to the waterfalls, Oi! We don't want to go there. Nearly got out, but we made it to the main tuktuk stand and he tried to hijack two Americans who were talking to another driver. They
did want to go to the waterfalls. We didn't, so we got out. The American guy tried to say we'd get a better deal as there were more of us. WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE WATERFALL! Our driver said no problem, my friend will take you. We were pissed off and confused by then, so walked away, Sam saying we'd only pay 30.000 now because angry! No point being angry here. Angry doesn't produce results. Settled on 40,000 this time. He wasn't happy, although the price is OK, and we set off, quite a way. The two Americans tried to flag us down again, laughed when they saw it was us, the non-waterfall people!
On the way we realised we didn't have enough change, oh dear, let's take a wild guess that he won't have any change either. I fished around and found a stray $5, samesame as 40,000. I gave it to him when we arrived, he turned it over and. Hacked it out, then drove off grumpily.
The resort was super-posh. The grounds were stunning, mountains behind, very quiet pool area (cold pool, everyone wincing). The internet said there was a $10 per
person charge. We said at reception that we'd come from the other hotel in town and were waved through. Didn't actually say we weren't staying there, and if asked we'd confess. Helped ourselves to some pool towels, met a couple from Branksome who own my new favourite place in Westbourne for coffee, Le Petit Prince. I love their coffee and macaroons! What a coincidence!
We had an expensive and not very good lunch by the pool. Paid in cash, which is often where you might get sprung, not having a room number to give. But no! Accepted cash, no questions asked. The return free shuttle times were 3pm and 6pm, so waited for the 6pm. It came, we got on it, no questions asked and jumped out by our street when it was in slow moving traffic. So they even gave us a lift back to town for free. At least we spent a lot on lunch!
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