Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands), Laos

Saturday 13th October

So here we are, our final blog from Laos L. The 'sleeper' bus as it's known over here was a terrible & at times terrifying experience! We & 6 other travellers were picked up in Vientiane, the driver pulled away before Carly even sat down so it was very nearly a trip to A&E instead. We headed first to the North bus station then to the South (where we were headed). We arrived at the North station & the driver stalled the truck. That was it, dead! We waited thirty minutes before he accepted our invitation of a push. We were running seriously late but the bump start tactic paid off.

As we were late the guy decided to floor it! We were flying along these awful unsealed roads, dust everywhere & us leaving out seats several times along the way.

We made it to the bus just in time & took our beds ready for the 14 journey ahead. They sleep 2 up 2 down on each side of the bus & they aren't designed for average sized westerners! We were so squashed & so hot it's untrue. I'll try to describe the sensation of taking a sleeper bus now:

Have you ever tried sleeping on a trampoline with 5 kids bouncing up & down on it all around you for 14 hours? If you have then you'll know what we went through.

We did eventually make it to Pakse where we would take a minibus to the port which all went fairly smoothly. The boat to our Island of choice, Don Det was also fine. It's quite a sight, seeing the Mekong river open out & all these islands rising from the dirty waters.

When we reached land we were left with the task of finding accommodation so we set off with our backpacks & started making enquiries & checking rooms out for suitability & cost. We tried a few but couldn't decide, as always, so carried on walking half way along the island & found nothing. We were so hot by this point Carly looked like she would make this my last day if I didn't get a place to stay right now. So we marched all the way back to the first place, Dalom Guest House & took a room there.

The reason we came here was to witness the turquoise waters of the Mekong & take in sunsets rivalled only by a handful of places. In reality the Island is filthy dirty with litter, nobody seems to do anything all day & the river was browner than brown (rainy season downside). We did hire pushbikes to ride around the island & see some sights which was hilarious. I swear Carly must have never ridden a bike in her life, pure comedy genius. By the end of the time on the bikes her legs were caked in mud from cycling through bogs instead of around them & I looked like I pissed myself because of the sweat I had worked up. A real pair of hotties.

We showered & went for food & drinks & met Carolina, a girl from Sweden with an American/Kiwi accent & Johanna, a German girl & decided to grab food together. We also booked onto kayaking for tomorrow to see some waterfalls & the famous Irrawady dolphins.

Sunday 14th October

Disaster, 10 minutes into kayaking along the Mekong with its strong currents, we were in! Jeremy, a guy from Singapore hit a tree (they grow from the water & the current is so strong at times it's hard to avoid them) & it spun him side on. We ploughed into the side of him, freeing him up & sending us into a slow motion capsize. The water was quite shallow so we bashed our legs up pretty good before finding our feet & grabbing the kayak. I started to panic because my wallet, the camera, our flip flops & things were in a waterproof bag on the kayak. Luckily they were still attached when we flipped the kayak over & they were still dry thank god!

We gracefully climbed back on board & carried on to the first waterfall which was ok. Then we headed to the protected site where the dolphins spend most of their time. Unfortunately the water was filthy dirty so we didn't get to see much other than from a distance. We broke for lunch (in Cambodia) then paddled back to Laos for a short drive to the second waterfall.

It was Khon Pha pheng, the largest waterfall (volume wise) in South East Asia. It was pretty impressive & we have pics to follow.

A short drive & paddle back to the island & our day was over. We both burnt so badly we look like crabsticks, we sun creamed up twice as well so no idea how it happened! We grabbed dinner with Carolina, Johanna & 4 French guys who did the kayaking too & then got an early night ready for a 13.5 hour bus ride to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Overall impression of Laos is WOW!!! What an amazing country, so rarely spoken of & such a history to it. The people are so friendly, the food, is good, the transport is...... interesting & we loved every minute of it. Let's hope Cambodia brings more of the same.

Modes of Transport so far - 2 planes, 1 Taxi, 5 Tuk Tuks, 1 VIP Bus, 2 shared taxis, 4 minivans, 1 speed boat, 2 slow boats, 1 ferry, 2 pickup trucks, 1 sleeper bus, 1 kayak

Countries Visited - Thailand, Laos

Miles Travelled - 8,253