Pakse (3 nights)

  The journey back to Pakse was about 130km so we wanted an early start to avoid the blistering sun for as long as possible. We were on the road by 7:15 and even with stops for coffee every 30km or so we were back by 11:15. As far as the bike was concerned we had no problems but I'm sure this was too good to be true. Less than 500m from the hotel trouble struck again, thus time in the form of a puncture to the back tire. I managed to make get it back ok but was cursing our luck. Thankfully the guy behind the desk was ok wasn't bothered and didn’t charge us any extra. Our plan was to head next to 4000 Islands on the border with Cambodia but the next bus was not till 8am the following day so thus left us with another afternoon to kill in Pakse. We explored the town itself a bit more and looked at a couple of markets but nothing really to speak of. We tried somewhere new for dinner and chose a little Indian restaurant that turned out to be really good. The fan in our room back at the hostel was pretty crap so I had a hot and hence uncomfortable nights sleep.

  Everything you read and everyone you speak to insists that the best way to see the Bolevan Plateau is by motorbike. Unfortunately for Deb & I neither of us had a clue how to ride one. Not to worry, I had a crash course in 5 minutes from the guy at the hostel and had soon hired one for the day. It was an amazing feeling to be able to drive off to anywhere you want and completely at your own pace. Very different to the hassles of public transport in Asia. Our plan was to go to Champasak about 50km south of Pakse to see the famous Wat Phu and see how we found things on the bike. If it was a success we hoped to rent one for 3 days and head out to the Plateau and stay in various guesthouses around there. After 30km we had not reached the bridge we had expected and soon realised we were actually heading in the wrong direction and on our way to Paksong in the middle of the Plateau! This was not a problem and I think we were both quite happy about it.

  We had been going about an hour when we stopped for a drink and noticed a sign for one of the famous waterfalls Tad Fan just up the road. Here there was a small market where the locals sold coffee and tea grown at nearby plantations and we were able to leave our bike here and go to the falls. The view we had was from quite far away but the falls still spectacular and the best bit was we had them all to ourselves, not a single other person in sight. There was a path leading down through the forest that I presume provided a close view from the bottom but after scrambling half way down we thought better and came back up.

  Just across from the path we had taken to the falls there was another one leading to supposedly another set of falls so we decided to explore. The road to this one was muddy and the pretty slippy and the inevitable happened, we somehow managed to fall sideways. Luckily we were almost stationary when it happened and Deb & I had not a scratch on us and found the whole incident hilarious. This was until I realised the bike had landed on the front brake and snapped the handle clean off!! By this point we were only 10km from paksong a sizeable town where we could surely get it fixed. Back at the main road we bumped into a dutch guy who lived in Laos and he confirmed that they would be able to fix it no problem. Once there we found the place no problem and luckily for us 2 minutes and $2 later we were all fixed.

  The excitement had made us hungry so we called in at a local cafe. The only English the lady there new was 'soup' to which we nodded. When it came it was very similar to Vietnamese Pho and tasted pretty good. It was time to start heading back as we had to have the bikes back by 6pm at the latest. On the way though we called in at another set of waterfalls that were not on the map, Tad Yuang. I have no idea why these were not recommended. They were not as high as the previous one but the setting and the access was far better. We managed to get right down to the bottom of the falls and I got absolutely soaked, but it was well worth it!

  The road home was almost perfectly straight and took just short of an hour. They day had been amazing so far, a real adventure but it was not yet over. As I pulled up to the traffic lights only 100metres from the hostel the back wheel failed to get any traction on some gravel and skidded sending Deb & I tumbling. We were both fine, just a couple of small scrapes to the knee but the the plastic on the front of the bike had a big crack in it! I couldn't believe we were so close to home and something so stupid happened! We handed the bike back in to the hostel and the guy who rented us it that morning asked what happened. When we had explained he said he would have to speak to his boss and see what to do. It was a shame the day was tarnished by this but all Deb & I could do was laugh! 

  Before catching the 9am bus to Pakse to really begin our adventures we needed some breakfast but to do this we needed some KIP! Thankfully the ATM was open and even took Maestro cards so we were soon brandishing 1.4 million KIP each! The breakfast was good and insanely cheap, Laos is making Vietnam seem expensive. The owner of the guesthouse insisted that we not waste our time going to the bus station 5km out of town but to instead wait on the main road that runs through the town. He assured me that when the bus driver sees us he would stop to let us on. He was dead right as after only waiting for 5 minutes one pulled up and a guy who was on the roof shouted PAKSE, PAkSE and gestured for us to throw our bags up to him to strap on. We had been expecting the standard tourist coach but this was in fact a local bus. I excitedly threw my bag up and then clambered over the dozen or so huge bags of rice that were in the isle and found us a couple of seats in the back corner. The journey was somewhat eventful as people were getting on and off every 2 minutes and at one point there must have been 40 people on a bus designed for only 20. To add to this every time we went through a small town women would come running out and try and sell us chickens feet or corn on the cob on sticks through the window. We opted for the corn which was really good. The 230km journey took an astounding 6 hours but was great fun!

  There is so much to do around Pakse and the Bolevan Plateau and we really needed some info and advice so we chose the only real hostel in town that came recommended. Pakse is tiny place and the only tourists you see are those at your hostel, once you venture out it's just local, which is great! Also I was able to find a good internet cafe and finally managed to get my photos from the past week uploaded.

  In the evening we wandered down to near the market where the centre of the town is and picked out somewhere to eat. The food was a little over priced but nice enough. At the next table were a group of local guys who looked slightly older than us and were clearly having a good time! Our hostel locked the doors at 11pm and it was 10:30 so we settled up the bill and just as we were about to leave the waiter brought over some beers and pointed over to these guys.  We turned to thank them and got into a conversation which resulted in us joining them at their table. All but 1 of them spoke really good English and it turned out that one of them was the son of the owner of the restaurant. This same guy insisted he knew the owner of our hostel and that it would not be a problem for us to stay out late with them. From here on the beer began to flow (free of charge) and we spent the next couple of hours chatting and drinking with them. One fo them also have us a lift home and it tunred out he did know the right people, as all it took was a quick phone call and the hostel doors were wide open. It seems the hospitality I have experienced on my trip so far is not just exclusive to Vietnam!

We spent one night here, definitely the best option in town (Pakse is very small town!). Strongly recommend the panoramic rooms and specify one with a Mekhong river view (we stayed in room 603 which was large & had a spectacular view). At $44 a night B&B, very good value for money. Unfortunately we were rained off the roof restaurant, which looked fab, but the Lao meal and house carafe wine recommended by the french owner Jerome was excellent. Great location also. Close to the Sinouk coffee shop, which sells exceptional local Bolaven coffee; opposite the best foot/body massage parlour in town; and right by an internet cafe which serves ice cold Lao beer. NB For those travelling with a laptop the hotel has free WiFi. The only downside was the shower which ran alternate hot and cold of its own volition!!

We have taken a flight from Vientienne to Pakze and then we boarded a bus to 4 Thousand Island.  Shit, the bus is an oversize tuk tuk.  There are a few different versions of tut tuks here, one is the motorbike tuk tuk, then there is the minibus tuk tuk which is has a car engine but with a bigger backside that caries about 10-12 people and then there is the one we travelled on down to the 4 thousand islands, which started out as a carrier of groceries, booze and locals plus us travellers with around 10 people and by the next hour we had about 30 people on board, so we were like sardines, but it as a must do experience.  We arrived into the town boardering the 4 thousand islands and it stinks, shit everywhere.  We have been ushered down to the waterside and booked our boat over to Don Det and once we arrived on the island we found that accommodation was hard to find, plus we were really tired an pissed off so we went onto Don Khon and immediately found bungalows on the water front, so we were home for the night.  The locals were really cool and we could exchange US dollars when needed.
We settled into our bungalows and chilled out for awhile, when Murray and I were thirsty we grabbed beer lao from a local next door.  This life just blows me away, to think that everyone's life revolves around selling something... good on them.  We had dinner which was ok, nothing too spectacular but to be expected.  One thing that i have noticed is that every business owner/restaurant/gift shop owner have very much pride in themselves and especially with the food they serve, if they wouldn't it eat then they would not serve it to you.  There seems to be  an appreciation of the tourist trade.

The Bolaven Plateau is the covered in coffee and tea plantations with beautiful waterfalls scattered throughout.  Paces is the main city in the area which makes it the typical stopping point for travelers heading south.  The town is quite bland.  However, the slow pace lowered my beggar guard which allowed for some interesting insight into daily small town life in Laos.  We found a nice cheap Korean BBQ restaurant where locals went for special occasions.  These style restaurants have been some of my favorites so far.

The coffee served in most restaurants in Laos is horrendous.  Like most gave up on it after giving more than enough chances in several cities.  The syrupy black hole always swallowed condensed milk without a hint of color change.  I had heard that most of  what they severed was not grown in Laos so I was curious to see what the coffee was going to be like on the Bolaven Plateau.  We did a day trip to a coffee plantation and a few of the waterfalls.  I had never seen a coffee plantation before so I found the sort tour interesting.  I was disappointed that they did not serve some of the local brew to try.  We pasted through a small market on the way to the highest waterfall in the country.  They were selling coffee beans and grounds everywhere but we were flabbergasted that not a soul was selling a mug full.  I ended up buying a small bag and convinced one of the shanty restaurant ladies to brew it up for us.  She made it so strong it stained our teeth black on contact.  I could not handle more than a couple sips even when I doused it with sugar.  So I guess it is the lack of technique and maybe not the coffee that makes Laos coffee the worst I have ever had. 

The surrounding waterfalls were nice but not the most spectacular I have seen so far.  At the end of the day my time in Pakse was a little bland and if I did it again I would have bypassed it completely and headed straight to the much more interesting 4000 islands to the south.

People i met here, who contributed to and improved my trip: Juliana (Russia)

We only spent 1 brief night in Pakse, which was long enough to book an onward bus to Vientiane later in the week and also to organise a trip to the nearby Bolaven Plateau. Other than an interesting concert in the main square, there was little else of interest that happened to me here.

9/17/06

Well we woke up way to early and arrived at the airport and went through the most laid back security I have seen at an airport in a long while. We asked the girl at the counter to check on the status of our change request but of course, she couldn't and told us to ask at the reservation window.

Cindy asked the girl at reservations who told her the computer was down and to check in Pakse. We were somewhat nervous of loosing our seats, so Cindy walked over to the international terminal to check there while I watched the reservation agent boot her PC Into Windows 98, an officially "End of Life" Microsoft product. I hope the safety and maintenance procedures on Lao Air are more up to date!

Upon return, Cindy high fived me - we finally have confirmed seats to Siem Reap on the 22nd. Unlike our flight from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, this one actually had some AC so was relatively comfy.

Brent and Rosemarie graciously offered to let us hitch a ride with them from Pakse to Tad Fane where we were coincidentally both staying. What a treat! No need to figure out logistics of getting there (it’s about two hours out of Pakse) or bargain for an overcrowded and uncomfortable tuk-tuk, rather we go in style in an air conditioned mini-van with their guide Mee (great guy, great English).

En route to the Tad Fane "resort" (and I use that term loosely) we stopped at the Pakse Wat before visiting the immense Pakse Market filled with the usual interesting and photogenic stuff (including a "Rolex" one man wanted to sell Brent and some really weird looking fish).

Then we visited another waterfall and a manufactured ethnic village that a Thai company has built to bring in busloads of Thai tourists, many of whom apparently stop at duty-free at the border and buy cognac to get smashed at the waterfall with their buddies.

There were some cute little kids singing and dancing and an old man playing a bunch of homemade instruments. Also, Mee showed us one of the local huts with small rooms on the corners, each with a small square window and a tree stump outside so that boys can court young girls (actually he said touch but I wasn't going to ask...). Once they get the permission of the parents, the couple gets to spend the night in the Courtship Tree House which is up twenty feet by ladder in the middle of the village and none to private. We are still not sure how they ever get the privacy to have so many kids. New!  this should launch in a separate window but if it doesn't hit back after viewing the video. Ethnic Lao Kids Singing and Dancing

We stopped at a tea and coffee plantation run by a Vietnamese family and started to get a tour of how they pick and then fry the tea but it started to rain then totally pour so we hopped back in the van and headed to Tad Fane and power napped on the rock hard bed.

The two waterfalls were very dramatic, plunging 120 meters into the jungle covered gorge. Mist shrouded the falls with the occasional glimpse of a ray of sun shining through. There was a small village close by, but we will have to take Rosemary and Brent's word for it since I managed to snooze till cocktail hour.

Since it was time to freshen up we thought we would take a hot shower, but Tad Fane wasn't cooperating. Forty five minutes and two non-English speaking Lao guys later we had the issue solved - either scald yourself or freeze. If you dialed in the igniter, gas flow, water temperature and water volume just right, you could actually shower...not so easy to do.

Later, we had a very nice dinner with Brent and Rosemarie including a bottle of red wine, always a treat in SE Asia. They offered to let us tag along again tomorrow to another waterfall resort, Tad Lo and we would be hard pressed to refuse.

9/18/06

After breakfast we piled into the mini-van with Rosemarie and Brent and started the ride to Tad Lo, another waterfall on the Bolaven Plateau which rises 1,500 meters above the Mekong Valley. Along the way we stopped at several Mon-Khmer tribal villages including a Katu weaving village with lots of cute little kids, an Alak village growing coffee and cardamom (worth so much that people steal it from the fields) and a Nge village with even more kids. All of these Southern Laotian ethnic people have similar cultures such as organizing their huts in a circular pattern, an annual water buffalo sacrifice during the full moon where the sacrificers wear masks so they won’t be recognized in the buffalo's next life where he might take revenge.  They are poor but seem genuinely happy and so far untainted by tourism.

In the Alak village there were of course a bunch of cute kids but one in particular caught our attention. He was probably four or five and trying to push/ride a rusty bike that was twice as big as him and had no pedals - plus he was butt naked.

When we arrived at the Nge tribal village, at first a few brave kids popped out to smile and wave, completely enthralled when we would snap a photo and show them their pictures on the digital display. As soon as Cindy and Rosemary handed out trinkets like balloons, pens, Koala Bear clips and postcards, they turned into the Pied Pipers with the entire kid population of the village following them.

We arrived at the Saise Resort which we liked a lot more than Tad Fane and ended up staying in the "Green House" presidential suite which had a huge room each for Brent and Rosemary and us as well as a big sitting room, all of it overlooking the waterfall.

Had a nice lunch at the Tad Lo Restaurant where somehow they ran out of chicken even though there were chickens running around everywhere.

Following lunch we decided to take an elephant ride which sounds more romantic than it is. The elephant has a two-seater thing on it that makes you feel like at any moment you are going to plummet over the side then be crushed by his enormous feet, and that is when you are on the flats.  The driver, a kid no more than fifteen, sat on the elephants neck and gently tried to kick behind its ears in order to guide him. It was completely apparent who was in control and it was not the fifteen year old. Our elephant stopped at just about every bamboo tree in Laos, grabbing leaves and branches and cramming them into his mouth. This was one thing on the flats but quite another when he was on a precarious downhill with us feeling like we were going to pitch forward and fall six or eight feet to the ground. Shades of riding horses on Turkey's Patarra Beach with Cindy going ass over teakettle onto the rocks, Ouch!

Fording the river on their backs was also quite entertaining as the water rose higher and higher. We were sure we would either go under or get douched by the elephant's trunk but we safely made it across and into a small village where I am sure the locals thought we looked ridiculous.

Along the way our elephant often started trembling which at first we thought was his nervousness at a steep descent or something similar. This was incorrect as I am sure Rosemary and Brent will attest to, and rather was early indication that he was about to dump a large elephant load - funny sounding on land and even funnier as they plopped into the river.

On the way back our very stubborn elephant neglected to listen to the driver and crammed his trunk into a tree which happened to have a bee hive in it. The bees immediately swarmed and our poor driver got stung five or six times as he furiously swatted at the bees. Two hours on an elephant is more than enough for a lifetime and we were all happy to finally make it back without further incident.  Here is some video Elephant Ride at Tad Lo

The four of us went to dinner that evening, which was good although we weren't sure why the beef In Brent's dinner had tiny little bones in it (perhaps the infamous and supposedly delicious "forest rat" that we had heard of). Meanwhile, we were completely unprepared for the torrential downpour that rolled in right around our second Beer Lao. The helpful staff ended up walking us out to a truck under a giant Beer Lao umbrella and drove us back to the "presidential" suite. Tomorrow is the cruise and we are all looking very forward to it. Hopefully it will live up to our expectations and the fun we have been having the last few days with the Blanks.

On the bus from Savannakhet to Pakse, Cedric and I were getting extremely frustrated as it was a neverending ride, with continual stops every few kilometres to pick up more people even though th bus is already jam packed with both humans and wildstock.

Along the journey, as it stopped countless times the bus was also inundated with little merchants trying to hawk their daily goods. It was quite bizarre as in neighbouring countries the locals wouldn't be jumping on the actual bus to sell their goods, but they would be battling each other to the open windows in hope that one of the passengers would buy something from them. But here in Laos the actually merchants jump onto the already jam packed bus and literally hop from one seat hand support to the other!!! aiyahs!

At one stage, when the bus stopped on the side of the road to drop off some passengers, a little kid clambered down before his mother and jumped off the bus and literally got ran over by a van-like vehicle. There was BLOOD everywhere. The distraught mother hurried down dropping all her groceries and was wailing and becoming hysterical. The van driver was a good samaritan and had stopped the car and came rushing to the child and mother.

Fortunately enough there was a rural hospital nearby and they all hurried there with frantic hand gestures and plenty of yelling and crying.

I know it may sound wrong but after about half an hour of just sitting there, we all became frustrated and didn't see why we had to hang around anymore since the bus never crashed into the boy, it was between the van and the mother/child. Well that 30 minutes turned into an hour and then continued till about a total of 2 hours before the police came.

Even as the police arrived they were very unprofessional as they just stood around under the shade and having a smoke. It wasn't till quiet a while after that they then began asking questions. For some odd reason they were trying to measure the width of the road, the distance between the bus and the child, the distance between the bus and the parked van that crashed into the child. It was as if they didn't know how to read the measurements as they spent a good half an hour measuring and then remeasuring.

After a bit over two hours, the bus was finally on its way to Pakse. We were seriously considering hitch hiking on a tractor or another rural vehicle just to be on our way!

As we arrived at Pakse, we decided to walk to our destination and made our way to Sabaidy 2 Guesthouse. We stayed the night and organised our next trip to the Bolevan Plateau the following morning, deciding to just catch a local bus there rather than booking a tour.

That night I popped down an internet joint and just called home and relaxed with a fresh tropical fruit shake :)

Pakse Hotel

A fairly large and centrally located hotel right in the heart of Pakse, it actually was nicer than we thought it would be. They have several different types of rooms ranging from about $18-$50 so it is not a budget oriented place but the rooms were really clean (OK so we had a minor ant invasion but the staff immediately took care of it…) with TV and air con and the staff were great.  We had drinks in the restaurant (the menu looked good too but we didn’t eat there) where we had fantastic service by a funny Lao kid. They do have a website at http://www.hotelpakse.com/. 

Saise Resort

The Saise Resort at the Tad Lo waterfalls in Southern Laos on the Bolaven Plateau is a nice, relaxing place with several different options for bungalows overlooking the waterfalls.  We stayed in the very large and nice building that had two huge rooms and a common area.  There are also some “eco-bungalows” that were cute but involved climbing steep steps up a tree (difficult after too many Beer Lao’s).  The restaurant served reasonably good Lao food and the staff were friendly. Rooms in the low season 2006 were about $22/night and it was actually a bit nicer than Tad Fane where we stayed earlier.  You can arrange local trekking or elephant rides here too.

Tad Fane Resort

The Tad Fane Resort outside of Pakse in Southern Laos on the Bolaven Plateau has simple but clean bungalows with great views overlooking the dual Tad Fane waterfalls in a very natural setting.  The rooms are large and the bathrooms are relatively clean (although we had major problems with hot water).  They have a nice dining area for the included breakfast or other meals on the second floor of the main, open air building overlooking the falls which are very impressive, cascading 200 meters into the canyon below.  Since it is in the mountains, it is very cool here so the rooms just have a ceiling fan which is fine.  Trekking can be arranged.  They do have low and high season rates and a website (definitely book on the website at http://www.tadfane.com for a better deal).  In low season it was $27 a night for a double (a bit pricey by Laotian standards but it is an “eco-tourism” resort.