third attempt to write this blog, let's see if this time i'm lucky.

I have now left Laos after 3 very relaxing days kayaking to Cambodia to see the Mekong dolphins, cycling to some waterfalls, actually mainly getting lost in the attempt, reading sipping a smoothy. It was the perfect ending of this amazing trip in Laos. In this country everything is done at a really slow pace but down in 4000 island time seems to stop completely. The sun shines in the sky and everyone is just busy finding some shade to hide.

I'm so glad I made it to this remote place as this gave me the chance to see the rare dolphins of the Mekong, a box now ticked as last here I had no time to do it while I was in Cambodia.

However I had to pay a great price for all this relaxation, it actually took me 2 days to reach Hue, Vietnam, and during the 13 hours bus journey of the second day no one could speak a word of English, I am now in great need of talking to someone, however here in Hue I met really few tourists. Maybe due to the cold and miserable weather, I think today there are just 15 degrees... Laos I miss you so much!!!

This is basically what happened, I tried to buy a bus ticket in Don Det, advertised for 24 hours journey. From 11am to 11am the following day. The guy told me that it was cheaper to buy a ticket to Pakse, few hours away and then buy another one from there. And that the waiting between the 2 busses was just 1 hour. What actually happened is that once I arrived in Pakse I got told that there was no bus in the afternoon, or better maybe there was a local bus but a really bad one, I can hardly imagine a bus much worse than the one I took. However outside the sky was falling so no chance of venturing around looking for another agency. Such in Pakse for the night first bus 6 in the morning which translated means we pick you up at 6 and then you wait for the bus until 7.30. The roads were bumpy and the rain didn't stop for a minute in the following 13 hours. Clearing customs was easier than I thought, I just followed the others in the bus, I received comments in Lao and Vietnamese that I didn't understand, I just smiled and went on with the others. Luckily I read somewhere a comment about an "exit" tax in Laos, that goes between 15 to 30 Kip, usually 15 for locals and 30 for farang, I had to pay 20 so all consider not too bad.

By the time I arrived in Hue it was 8 in the evening I got stopped on the side of the road and approached by a bike, I couldn't see any better option considering the time, or better, I couldn't see at all as it was peach black