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Published: February 3rd 2007
Cambodia to Laos
Well I finally made some more time to update the blog, so here's what I've been up to over the past 3 weeks...
Last time I wrote I was in Phnom Penh in Cambodia (the third time there within a month as it's a rather convenient travel hub). I travelled by bus up to Kratie (Krah-cheh) a few hundred km north, and spent a few days there - I hired a motorbike and with another guy staying at the guest house went to see the Irrawaddy dolphins (there were quite a few - sorry no pics as my camera is too slow to capture them!), and onto a few local villages, wats (temples), etc.
After several days I ventured to the north east to a small town called Ban Lung in Ratanakiri province. The route there is extremely slow and laborious, as the road is paved only part-way there, after which is deteriorates into bumpy mud single-track roads. All in all it took about 7 hours by bus from Kratie to reach the town (arriving at night). I stayed at the Tribal hotel at the east of town which is quite a popular spot (and cheap
Kayaking on Don Det
Alex and Kelly. With whiskey, 7up and red bull mix.at only 5$, run by Mrs Kim). I met a couple there (Angie and Dave) from the UK who I also bumped into several times later (in Don Det and Vientiane in Laos).
Ban Lung is a rather dusty town with not much to do in the evenings, though it's a handy place to explore the surrounding province. There is a small lake in the town and I took a quick look around also having a drink in the very nice Terres Rouge lodge - I think I'd stay there next time (if not on a budget) as it's definitely the place to stay for luxury!
Durnig my stay I hired a guide for 2 days and visited some of the local waterfalls, had a short trip on the river to visit some local villages and also spent a few hours at crater lake (an extinct volcanic lake). I didn't do any trekking, which I thought I'd do later with more people.
After Ban Lung I needed to get a move on to Laos so took a share taxi back to Stung Treng along the awful road. This time however the journey was shorter, but took just
as long as the taxi driver drove around for about 2 hours picking up more and more people! This happens a lot in Cambodia - the share taxi can always squeeze in a few more people, and I heard tales of 13 people in one Toyota car!!!
Stung Treng is near the Cambodian / Laos border and is a rather quiet town. One humourous moment was while sitting in a restaurant having a meal, a lady who worked there insisted she wanted to marry me, though I had to decline her offer!
Crossing the border itself is fairly easy, and involves a 5 minute boat ride acros the river (the bridge in the town has not been completed as they ran out of money apparently) followed by 30 minutes on a bus to reach the actual border. There is a small "admin" fee of 1$ payable to the customs officials there, and the same on the Cambodian side. Unfortunately I cut my ankle on a rock on the Cambodian leg, as the motorbike taxi went down a steep step and my foot slipped off the pedal - later I had to visit a hospital in Savannakhet (see later!).
Linda!
The crazy Dutch lady!!! Once into Laos I stayed at the wonderful Don Det island (part of the 4000 islands - or Sii Phan Don) for 4 days - there are tiny bungalows lining the edge of the island and all charge around 2 or 3 dollars a night for a bungalow with hammock (with shared toilet), but it's a great experience and it's easy to spend sevral days doing nothing except drinking beer Lao. On Don Det I looked around the island (and the more southerly Don Khon island, which adjoins it) by bike and also a day with a group on a small boat exploring the nearby islands. There are also freshwater dolphins in the area but I'd already seen them at Kratie so didn't bother with that.
After a couple of days I moved onto the larter island Don Khong - it takes about 2 hours to reach there (and it's expensive by boat - $10!!) - it was very nice but too quiet for a single traveller I returned to Don Det a few days later with the intention to take a bus up to Pakse or Champasak. However on the taxi boat back to Don Det (much
Elephants in Champasak
Just walking along the street... cheaper the other way, only $4) I met a guy from England called Alex (a fim cameraman as it turned out), and after a couple of beers back on Don Det I decided to stay a few more days (3 more in the end!!). Here also we met an American girl (Kelly) and a Dutch girl (Linda) who came kayaking with us (see photos) for the day which was great fun.
A few days later Linda and I left Don Det to visit Champasak - a small town which is famous for it's temple (similar to Ankor Wat in style) called Wat Phu Champasak. At the time the annual festival was only a week or so away so the site was a hive of activity with pre-festival activities, boat racing, bands etc. Wat Phu Champasak is also a Unesco-listed site (there are so many in Asia!!).
From Chanpasak we both headed up to Savannakhet - an old colonial town on the Mekong bordering Thailand. Again here there was not much to do except walk though we hired a bike one day and visited a local Wat and a lake. I also got my ankle checked out at the
local hospital - they told me I should have had stitches but it was too late, instead they gave me antibiotics, dressings and iodine to clean it every day). Actually it's much better now but in this climate it takes a long time for wounds to heal (by the way it's still very hot during the day but is now a little chilly at night!).
Linda and I both caught an overnight bus to Vientiane (the capital city of Laos), at which point we met a French guy who I'd bumped into several times previously on the way. Several whiskey and red bulls later we boarded the bus for an uncomfortable 7 hours...I spent several days in Vientiane, and was relieved to find the only ATM in the country in which to draw out some more kip. It's interesting to note however that I had only spent $100 in total in 7 days on the way to Vientiane, which proves how cheap this country can be!
Last Sunday my friend John arrived from the UK (via Bangkok) though his luggage was missing, so we had to return to the airport the following day and thankfully it turned up.
Car ferry at Champasak
Crossing the Mekong by raft Vientiane is rather pleasant, there is a lovely promenade along the river (very low at this point), and great bars and restaurants. However, all the bars were quiet in the evenings and local laws dictate that they must close by 11pm or so!
After Vientiane we spent 5 days at Vang Vieng (however on the way we spent the day kayaking on the Nam Som river, organised through Green Discovery in Vientiane) did the usual things: tubing on the river, biking to some huge caves nearby of which there are many, and also took some motorbikes for the day, reaching about 40 km north of Vang Vieng. The tubing was great fun and very relaxing (as the river was very slow) but the water was very cold and we finished the course late (about 7pm) in the dark and it was freezing. The problem is that there are so many bars along that route that pull you in for beer and water slides, hardly anyone actually tubes the whole 4 km from the starting point (the organic farm) to the finish (the Smile bar) in town.
In Vang Vieng we stayed in some basic wooden bungalows on the
Lion Whiskey
1 bottle = $1 west river bank, over the bamboo bridge at the south end of town - Lathsamee bungalows - they were only $3 a night for a bungalow each and the family there are incredibly friendly - on the way into town one night they insisted we join their barbecue with their friends, plying us with too many cans of beer Lao! There are a few good bars in Vang Vieng that stay open late, in addition to the Moon disco (this seems to be the place for the local Laos) over by the airstrip, which is packed when all else is closed. Aside from that the Smile bar seems to be the place to go in the evening.
Yesterday (Sunday 4th Feb) we caught a bus to Luang Prabang (219 km to the north) which is a Unesco-protected town, once the seat of royalty in Laos. There are countless temples (wats) here, a royal palace and museum, fantastic scenery and amazing old French collonial buildings. Every other building seems to be a guest house, tour company, or bar but they are all very tastefully done and the town itself is very attractive. Walking along the river you could really be
Pha That Luang
The most religious temple in Laos in the mediterranean here, it's very unlike other towns I've encountered in Asia so far (i.e. there are no wooden shacks, rice fields or buffaloes walking across the road!). Up to now, I've not visited the sights here, instead today just relaxed and plan to hire a mountain bike tomorrow and see all the local sights. There are also many caves, waterfalls, and trekking opportunities nearby. However, I've probaby seen enough caves and waterfalls for a while, though a few days' trek would be good.
Next week I plan to reach Thailand, taking the 2-day slow boat from Luang Prabang to the border, though we may head further north first!
Watch this space...
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Mr Guts
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GIT
Sounds like your having a great time.....GIT!! I guess your glad now that you took the 18months of nagging it took us all to get you to go!