Tadlow, 4000 Islands and Pakse
Being in Asia I was on a quest to ride an elephant so we decided to head (by bus of course) to a little village north of Pakse called Tadlow. What we had not considered before we made our long trek down south was the weather. Allbeit we had not really had a day of sun since being in Laos the rain had been kind, that was until we reached Tadlow! We stayed here for 2 nights and it rained non stop not the drizzle that you get at home but torrential down pours. I had found an elephant to ride so I was happy for a short while until they told me it was cancelled due to the rain swelling the river and the elephant not being able to cross it safely. So with the trekking cancelled all you could really do was sit in a hammock and watch the rain which turned out to be really enjoyable. We did stay in a lovely but very very basic guest house ran by a Laos family which was the highlight of the trip to Tadlow.
At this stage Marky was getting the jitters about being landlocked so we decided to make the journey further south to 4000 islands which are surrounded by the Mekong River. The most southern islands which are virtually on the Cambodian border are famous for spotting the rare Irawady river dolphin. When this was mentioned to Marky he replied "I don't want to see a river dolphin- they are ugly" so that was the end of that! We did spend a couple of nights on an island called Dong Khong where we dwindled away our time cycling around the island and meeting the locals. Again, the Laos people welcomed you with open arms every few minutes someone was shouting out "Sabadee" in greeting and they would smile at you huge broad smiles. These people have soooo little yet they are the warmest, friendliest, kindest people we have had the privalege of meeting.
We returned to Pakse after a brief stop at Champasak which is home to the site of the Wat Phu ruins. We mooched around here for a day and then caught a crammed savanghtew back to Pakse. On the river crossing back to the mainland, Mark was teased to buy some noodles for breakfast from one of the lady vendors, but eventually decided against it. As the floating platform made its way accross the Mekong River, we realised this non-purchase was probably for the best, as we watched the lady tip peoples' leftovers back into the pot, then wash their bowls in the filthy river before returning them to her basket, ready to serve another hungry mouth! Basic hygeine will be a steep learning curve for the people of Laos, and they're still way down at the bottom of the slope.
The following day we rented a motorbike and made the 50k journey to a village called Phu Asa where we had been told that we could do elephant trekking whether it be rain or shine. I was so excited as our elephant strode up we clambered on with our guide and the elephant made the slow accent up to Phu Asa (holy mountain). We couldn't understand why it was plodding so slowly until we realised it was shovelling everything remotely food like into it's mouth as it was going along.. We had great respect for our guide as although our elephant was slow he didn't bash it with sticks like other guides did in order to make him travel faster.
We fed him numerous bananas and sugarcane and when that wsn't enough he tried to eat my camera! This was an experience that we definitely will not forget.
Although we were happy in Laos the lack of sea was becoming a critical situation so we decided to make a break for it and head for Thailand.
So we borded yet another bus (must be the world record for buses by now) and made our way to the Thai border.
We are sad to be leaving Laos as this small country has so much to offer it left us questioning why we had spent so much time in Vietnam. Laos was a breath of fresh air from the frenetic pace of the other countries that we have travelled. The way people acted towards us with their generoisity, warmth and kindness made us forget that we were in one of the poorest countries in Asia. However, there is only so much river gazing (pretending that it is the sea) we can do, so we are off to find the real thing. Thailand here we come.