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Published: June 11th 2008
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Champasak
We arrived in Laos in the southern town of Pakse, after a relatively straight forward journey from Ubon Ratchathani in Eastern Thailand where we had spent the last few days of our stay in Thailand.
The first impression of Laos was a great one with friendly people at every turn willing to help us with no strings attached!
Whilst we waited for our connecting bus to the village of Champasak we were given our first taste of Laos coffee to try, and my god this stuff is Real Coffee, the strongest and thickest coffee I’ve ever had, served in a small plastic bag filled with ice, the perfect cooler on a hot day!
We finally got our connecting bus to Champasak and on this bus we got our first taste of Laos transport, parallel benches on the back of a pick up truck, not exactly luxury or comfort! Don’t expect to get anywhere in a hurry in Laos either we stopped for one girl to have an injection from a roadside nurse and for one lady to do her full shopping trip at the local market. Despite all of this, travelling in Laos does have a real feel of
Tad Fane
Plunging out of thick rainforest adventure and fun as well allowing you to interact more closely with the local people.
After our first experience of the Mekong River, catching the car ferry (i.e. a large raft with out-board motors attached to the back!!) we arrived in Champasak and instantly loved the place. A tiny little village set on the mighty Mekong with children playing in the street, chickens running all around and singing heard on every turn. Surely this is what travelling should be all about?
On our first full day we cycled to the famous Wat Phu temple, dating back to the same era as the temples of Angkor. It was a beautiful place full of atmosphere and the views from the top level of the temple complex down across the Mekong River were amazing.
The next day we caught a small boat across Don Daeng, a large island in the centre of the Mekong. We spent the day cycling around the beautiful island watching the local people. It happened that this was the day of the annual Rocket festival, which celebrates the start of the harvest season in Laos, so many households were enjoying parties involving loud music, enthusiastic dancing and lethal Lao
Lao (a local whisky made from rice). When passing one of these parties we were called in, plied with Lao Lao and covered in a paste made from flour and water, a fun experience if a little eye watering. We set off again (wobbling a little) to finish our cycle route.
We finished our time in Champasak by sitting on the roof of the abandoned, unfinished royal palace watching the sun set over the rice fields.
Don Det - Si Phan Don
From Champasak we travelled south close to Cambodian border to the backpackers haven of Don Det, one of the 4000 islands (Si Phan Don) a group of islands in the centre of the Mekong River.
The setting was beautiful, our bamboo huts owned by the fantastic Mr Phow and his family, overlooking the river but the weather was often not as fantastic!
Luckily we met some lovely people who we sheltered from the storms with playing dice and card games and also enjoyed a lovely trip with to the mighty Khon Phapeng waterfall, the largest in Asia (in volume).
We spent the days, relaxing on our hammocks, reading and walking to various places on Don Det
The Mekong
View Across the Mighty River to Champasak and the connected Don Khon, where we visited another large waterfall and also walked the length of the island along the old railway line built by the French when they occupied the country.
It was the ultimate place to relax and just soak up the nature.
Pakse & Savannakhet
After the basic but beautiful Don Det we were craving some comfort so enjoyed a few days in the old colonial towns of Pakse and Savannakhet where we enjoyed strolling the streets, looking at the beautiful French architecture and sampling the local food.
From Pakse we enjoyed a day trip up to the Bolaven Plateau, home of Laos Coffee. Here we visited coffee plantations, towering waterfalls and beautiful rainforest. One of these waterfalls, Tad Fan, was set in the middle of the rainforest and measured over 100m tall.
This part of the trip was a chance to recharge our batteries and we did it in fine comfort with a beautiful room in Pakse that we found it difficult to leave.
Tha Khaek & The Trek
With our batteries fully charged we arrived into another colonial town set on the Mekong called Tha Khaek.
This town is on
Laos Port!
The Docking point near Champasak the doorstep of some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the world, with huge karst mountains rising up in the distance.
On our first day we visited Tham Pha Pha a recently discovered cave full of thousands of Buddha images. It was the drive through the karsts to the cave that I enjoyed the most however.
The following day we set off in the same direction to start our trek into the beautiful Phu Hin Bun National Park.
We trekked for 2 days through caves filled with emerald hued water, between towering karst mountains and across endless rice fields, staying overnight in a local village where we enjoyed local food and a ceremony put on just for us that involved friendship style bracelets, beer and the infamous Lao Lao.
It was a truly unforgettable experience and on the second day we even got to try Duck Blood Soup and BBQ dog before gong for a swim in a natural lagoon called Khoun Kong Leng (Evening Gong Lake) the most beautiful green lake you are likely to ever see.
We finished our trek tired but ecstatic and travelled to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, famous for great food and great
Bakeries, something we could hardly wait for!
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JON
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STEVE
GET A HAIR CUT STEVE YOU HIPPY