Saibedee from Laos!

Since our first blog entry in Bangkok 4 days ago the heat has not subsided. We are now 1 week into our trip and i am sitting here writing this blog with severe sunburn on both my legs (story to come).

So from Bangkok we took the night sleeper train to Ubon Racthathani (Thailand) and crossed over the border into Laos via bus- what a nightmare! As we exited Thailand we had to fill out the paperwork in our passports at the customs desk in order to leave the country. By the time we had managed to get a pen and complete all of the required information, all of the other travellers we had met on the bus had disappeared and there was no sight of the bus anywhere... I swear I lost 6 stone in stress! Cedric was trying to stay calm as we ran through the exit of the Thai border and tried to find the customs for entering into Laos. To cut a long story short we managed to find the other travellers (6 stone lighter!) and the bus was waiting almost a kilometre on the other side of the border.

On arrival into Pakse (Laos) the air was not that different to Bangkok just on a smaller scale. We checked into our hotel which turned out to be the most awful hotel in the world (lessons learnt!) however it was only 6euros a night. We have decided we will pay more in the future, particularly after Cedric came screaming out of the bathroom like i have never heard him sceram before when he came face to face with an enormous spider! Trying to calm him down we went for a walk around the town and despite being quite warn down and in need of repair, the colonial buildings of this town were very nice. We also found an amazing hotel (which we would never be able to afford!) where Cedric made friends with the staff and they taught him how to fish!

After after one night in Pakse we decided it was time to move on and experience the more tranquil side of this amazing country. The following day we therefore negotiated a price with the Songthawn driver (a kind of minibus for the locals) and took it to the Kingfisher Ecolodge (www.kingfisherecolodge.com) about 50km south of Pakse. The tranquility of this place was amazing. The rooms were all made out of eco materials and the grounds were lost in the middle of nowhere. With a view over the marshlands we couldnt have asked for more. There were Geckos everywhere (particularly at night) alongside numerous frogs (multiple colours) and bulls in the marshlands which seemed to be the asian tuk tuk for the local birds....! We had a fantastic massage one afternoon and decided to take a trek up into the national park (Xe Pian national protected area) where our guide (Mr Seum) showed us the local village houses people and school (about 1,000 inhabitants) and the many ways they use their resources in the jungle for medicinal purposes. The children here are so amazing here innocent as children should be :.)

On our final day one of the other eco lodge staff (Mr Lae) asked us to join him and his fmaily at a Buddhist festiival. The festival is celebrated across all the villages of Laos. and is to commemorate those who have died in the past and allow their spirits to come back to thier loved ones for 3 days before being sent away again to a state of Nirvana. This was a truly amazing ceremony to see in such a small village- particularly since we were the only europeans there. In addition the Lao girls who worked at the eco lodge lent me one of the local Lao skirts (take a look at the photos if you dare!) That afternoon we decided to take a tour on an elephant through the marshlands which is what resulted in my very painful sunburn! This was a beautiful experience on such an immense animal -luckily this time he didnt try and charge at us!

This morning we took a Songthawn back to Pakse along with about 5 other locals and 2 pigs (of which were sold on route). 3 hours and many stops later we arrived in Pakse and we are now waiting for our night bus totake us to Vientiane this evening.

Saibeedee du Laos!

Voila deja 1 semaine que nous sommes arrive en asie....le temps passe si vite!

Nous avons pris le train de nuit de Bangkok a Ubon Racthathani (Thailand) et passes la frontiere en bus, un peu stressant! Comme nous quitions la Thailand, nous avons du remplir quelques papiers et il nous a suffis que de quelques minutes pour perdre de vue toutes les personnes qui voyageaient avec nous dans le bus et plus grave, le bus lui meme etait introuvable...pas de panic, le bus devait etre quelques part, mais si vous voyagez avec Danni, cela ne marche pas comme ca!!!...panic!! panic!...Cedric! il nous ont abandonnes!...Nous sommes perdu...seul....sans nos sacs...fait quelque chose! j'avais deja assez de mal a suivre ma cherie qui courrait partout comme un poulet sans tete. Apres disons 7mn (et c'est des longues minutes) de "Danni Panic", nous avons reussi a retrouver le mechant bus qui s'etait cache a quelques centaines de metre de la frontiere du cote laossien.

Nous sommes arrive a Pakse ou la chaleur etait toujours presente mais avec moins de pollution. Pakse ne represente aucun reel interet si ce n'est que cette petite ville est bien place entre different point touristique, donc nous avons pris une chambre dans un etablissement pas cher pour passer la nuit...6 euros la nuit...c'etait pas un Hilton!

L'hotel lui meme n'a rien de fancy...les chambres avait une petite odeur de renferme...dans les guides de voyage, ils disent "Basic"...il revenait probablement de la jungle!
Rien a voir avec l'hotel car cela peu arriver partout, j'ai eu une rencontre difficile avec un des occupant de l'hotel....j'etait dans les toilets, assis sur mon trone...lancais dans l'effort lorsque j'ai vue une araignee d'une taille qui ferais peur a n'importe qui, passait entre mes jambes....n'ayant pus identifier le specimen du premier coup d'oeuil, j'ai invente la teleportation et me suis retrouve dans la chambre, porte des toilet ferme!....voulant finir mon business, j'ai du regler le probleme a la chaussure.

Apres une nuit dans le taudit, nous avons pris un Songthawn (une moto/voiture qui tire une remorque avec des gens dedans) qui nous a emmene au Kingfisher Ecolodge (www.kingfisherecolodge.com) 50km sud de Pakse. Un endroit qui n'a rien en commun avec les endroits que l'on a pratique jusqu'a maintenant, Les chambres etaient de petits cabanons en bois avec vue sur le Xe Pian national protected area (si vous pouvez imaginer les etandus sauvage du Kruger Park en Afrique du Sud croise avec la Camargue...hallucinant!) ou nous pouvions voir les buffalos d'eau passes de temps a autre.
Un endroit de reve avec papillon vollant partout, gros lezard qui chantent et des grenouilles que vous retrouvez toujours au meme endroit a la meme heure.

Nous sommes reste 3 nuits dans cette ecolodge et le dernier jour a etait la cerise sur le gateau...nous avons ete invite a suivre une ceremonie boudiste par un des membres de l'ecolodge...suivit par 2 heures de randonne en elephant a travers jungle et marais.

Nous sommes repartis ce matin par les transport en commun...avec les cochons! pour rejoindre Pakse afin de prendre le VIP overnight bus pour Vientiane, ce soir.