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Published: February 8th 2018
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Anticipating a full day tour by VIP MiniBus, provider Pakse Travel, we are up, breakfasted and outside our hotel by
7.40am. There are 5 of us being picked up for the same tour, an English couple from London, Julie and Alan, and a German lady called Renata, a Scandinavian girl called Sally and a guy whose name we can't recall. So we're all on first name terms and off to a great start. Before long our 12 seater is full to bursting point and a rather strange French lady ends up next to our driver. She turns out to be a pain in the proverbial, but that's another story.
Yesterday we changed our travel plans for our onward trip to Savannakhet, mainly because we didn't fancy a 7 hour public bus trip, so opted for a 30 minute flight instead and boy is that the right decision because our journey today to Tad Fane waterfall is mostly along a major highway, which is being rebuilt so we travel on a loose potholed cinder track top speed 15 mph, it is only when we leave the main road can we make any headway, this is the route the public bus will
take! We have an itinerary full of places of interest.
We finally reach our first stop, the Tad Fane Waterfall. We leave the coach and wander along a level mud track for a couple of minutes, so are stunned when we reach the falls without any noticeable climb, to stare across a ravine at two amazing falls. There was an option to zip wire across, but we declined (there were no takers). After standing and admiring, taking many photos, we rejoin our coach. Next stop a Coffee and Tea plantation. A successful cooperative enterprise run by 1,855 smallholder families throughout 55 villages, producing three grades of tea, Arabica and Robusta coffee and their products are much sought after, especially in Japan. Enjoying a delicious cup apiece before selecting some tea we move on to our next port of call, Tha Teang, nicknamed the coffin Village. This small ethnic tribe, who are not Laotian, have their own burial traditions, they build their own coffins of stone, which they store under their houses until they die. When they are removed to a cemetery for a period of time, before being reused, nice! There is no apparent commercialism here, nobody is trying
to sell us anything, so we actually feel we are intruders in their peaceful daily activities, and we leave, feeling slightly guilty for having disturbed them.
Another waterfall beckons, Tad Lor, which is horseshoe shaped when in full flow. It is very impressive, even in the dry season. We enjoy tackling the Bamboo walkways that span the river and falls, and Paula makes friends with a very attractive Female Elephant, which we are assured is tame. Good facilities here and time allocated for lunch and refreshments, if required.
We are impressed by the fact that there are no entrance fees and no beggars. It is also nice to walk around with so few visitors not like the bustle and commercialism of similar sites in Thailand and Vietnam. We decide that although a glorious warm day, the water is too cool to entice us to bathe so we settle for a cool Lao Beer, life's tough!
Next stop is another minority tribes Village some 70 km drive back towards Pakse. This Village specializes in hand woven textiles. We spend twenty minute buttes here without being tempted to buy, then finally move on to Phasuam waterfalls, a
U-shaped outcrop, which is quite impressive. We both faced our fears here by walking across a suspended bamboo bridge -which we thought a safer option than the main wooden bridge, which was falling to bits - photos to prove! Heading home we reflect on a fantastic trip, beautiful landscape, sleepy villages, great companions, careful driver (always a bonus), greatest dangers on the roads weren't motorists or bikes, but chickens, cattle, pigs and goats. We only killed one chicken and slightly squashed a large boar. Not too bad really.
Weather today gloriously warm and bright, however, the reality is that the annual 'burning season' has started early, and the air hangs heavy with the results. Arriving back in Pakse, we jump off at Pakse Travel Booking office to book our trip for tomorrow and decide we are hungry and have a quick, tasty, satisfying curry with a beer apiece - delicious, and under £8 with a tip!
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Marilyn
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New friend
I love your new friend, Paula. xx