From Laos With Love

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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 place began to wear me down. A melancholy cloud floats over most of the country, I'm sure of it. After about 2 1/2 weeks it was time to go. So now I'm in Laos. I took a van from the border and then onto a boat. Then I took the boat to an island called Don Det.

The southern tip of Laos is mostly a vast archipelego. The Laos name for it is actually Si Phan Don (4 thousand islands) and it mostly consists of tons of small islands. Only a few of them have people on them though. One of which is Don Det. Lots of wooden bungalows overlooking the Mekong river. I met up with several friendly folks from England, Finland, the Netherlands, and Germany. I was the rogue American. We all hung out for a few days, kayaked along the river, and layed in hammocks. On one of the kayaking days we came across a few fishing villages completely separated from any other people. The kids paddled out on their Laos canoes to meet us and I managed to snap a few pictures. It's pretty incredible to meet people who have seen white people but maybe once or twice in their lifetimes. While in Don Det I survived on an almost exclusive diet of Laapw/ chicken, a Laos-exclusive dish with minced chicken, basil, lime, and chillies. You get a basket of sticky rice on the side and eat the meal with your hands. Because of all the chilis and heat I've really developed a strong tolerance to spicy food. The dish is really fun to eat but I finally got sick of it right around the time I was leaving.

I left Don Det traveling with an Irish-born Londonian. He thinks like an Irishmen but acts like he's from London. Quite a funny character. We took a bus to a city called Pakse, a few hours north of Don Det. I was planning on heading right up to Vientiane (the capitol) but ended up staying in Pakse for extra day. I heard that SE Asia's best coffee was grown on the Bolaven Plateau, 40km east of Pakse. The two of us hopped a local bus heading that way and took off.

Needless to say I was really enjoying Laos. In fact I'm loving Laos, that's why the title of this blog is what it is.

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Photos

My Balcony
This was the balcony and front porch at my bungalow on Don Det.

Mekong Canoe
Canoes such as these are the absolute standard of travel around Si Phi Don.

Water Buffalos
This huge creatures just wander around the islands, in and out of peoples yards, and right into the water.

Local Laos Kids
While kayaking up the Mekong we encountered many fishing villages where westerners never travel. These are some of the local kids who came to meet us on their canoe.

In Your Face
Fascinated by my camera, these kids got in close for a better look.

My Kayak
A photo of the Mekong river and the kayak I used to explore it.

Mekong Sunset
A view from the kayak as the sun goes down.

Mekong Sunset II
Another view of the sun's descent on the Mekong.

In the Twighlight
Not the best picture but I took it cause the colors of the sky were just incredible.

Comments

[goldstein]

:)
nice man. i feel like i've been there..wait i have. but not with you, which sucks. keep on loving it.