Sabaydeeeeee from Lao!

Why is it that all border crossing seems to turn into an absolute mission? We thought it was going to be so simple as we were staying only three hours from the border. Wrong. When we arrived apparently there was no bus for us so we had to wait around until one was available (for 3 hours) and then maybe pay more if there wasn't many people on it? Asian rules? Then we found out where we planned to go in Si Phan Don didnt have any cash points to get Lao money and we only had 30 dollar left. So we had to buy another ticket to a place called Pakse that did.. the guy was doing his best to get every last scrap of money out of us while leaving a little money for stamp costs on the border. I was NOT happy. I very rarely get super stressed with people but I could have shouted at him (I did a little). When we finally crossed the border we had 4 dollars between us until we reached Pakse in 3 hours time and we'd had one meal the whole day. Bad times. When we did finally arrive we got a tuk tuk to a guesthouse which was full, and then to another.. which was full and so on. Hungry times! Eventually we got a place and had to pay 12 dollars (bad times) but we didn't care by this point. There's always a silver lining and that came in the form of an Indian restaurant. It was so good we ended up going back there 4 times after that. It was the best post trauma meal we've ever had!

The next day we found a new guesthouse (much cheaper this time) and took a cycle ride around Pakse. Good news is Pho is back .. or a similar Lao version anyway... and generally Laotian food is quite similar to Vietnamese and you can get really cheap street food again. Wooo. So happy .. Cambodian food (or there lack of it) was starting to get boring. Best thing about Lao is that because its so rural all of the farmers sell their products on all the streets... managed to get a massive watermelon for 5000kip which is less than 50p. I was loving cycling down the street with a watermelon in my basket with a massive grin on my face (with Willsy in tow mocking me for my happiness over a watermelon).

So after a bit of deliberation we decided to hire a moped and take a little trip around a place called the Bolaven Plateau.. its basically a mountainous region with loads of waterfalls where they grow all of Laos coffee. The first day was pretty easier riding took us about three hours to get to a place called Tad Lo. It had two massive waterfalls right in front of the hut we were staying in on the river. Very scenic. Willsy did almost fall off the top of one and scared the life out of me but apart from that not much happened.. oh yeh apart from my near DEATH EXPERIENCE. A snake slithered past me... it was about a foot from my foot. I could have died. Obviously I was super calm about the situation and in no way did I run away screaming "snake snake" in a hysterical voice. Stressful day. Ha. I love being in the countrysid.. it seems like all animals have just had babies all the time. Our hut was surrounded in baby pigs, puppies, chicks and baby cows. I was in my element.

Day two saw slightly more windy roads on our journey and much more scenic as we had mountains in the background. We got lost looking for our place to stay as it was pretty hidden away and as we were the only people there I dont think many people ever find it. We drove around random sandy tracks through forest for an hour before we found it. Loose pebbles and sand are a bad combo for mopeding. When we finally found it we stayed by another massive waterfall on a huge river .. took a little swim just before it got dark. At dinner time we had to go and get the owners out of their house (in their pajama's) to make us some rice as they closed down the restaurant before 6. They didnt seem to mind to much tho and gave us this desert that their granny had made. Like sweet sticky rice jammed into a bamboo cane. Very nice.

On the third day we got up really early as we knew it was going to be a bit of a journey back. The firt third was amazing. The scenery was something else.. we rode through dense jungle up the side of a mountain onto the the plateau. It was stunning but we ran out of fuel (which caused a bit of panic as it was quite isolated) right at the top of the plateau and had to go and ask some local villagers to fill us up. The second third was horrendous.. they were building a new road so we had to drive through loose soil for ages. The road went on and on and on.. probably about 40km going 20km per hour. The final third was fine but we were absolutely shattered by this point. We stopped for a Bolaven Plateau for an iced coffee and it was AWESOME. I hate coffee at home, wont go near it but Laos coffee is so good. Not bitter at all. Converted coffee drinker. We arrived back covered in dust, sunburnt to the blistering level and shattered but it was worth it.

We spent the next two days in hammocks my the river in Si Phan Don (the place we had to miss out due to no cash points). Not much to report here as we just relaxed and got up occasionally to go for food. One thing did happen tho while we were in a restaurant one evening. We were just sitting there minding our own business surrounded by dogs that always lie around under the tables of all the restaurants. These villages came up and started luring this particular dog out from under one of the tables... nothing suspicious at this stage. As soon as they got it into the street they put a noose around its neck and dragged it to the next house and hung it. This is the point that I stopped watching. Matthew however, saw them proceed to batter it to death with a giant log. Horrendous. I think hes actually a bit mentally scarred from it. It just came as a bit of a shock because Laos is the only asian country that DONT eat dog except a handful of people near the Thai border. We assume they were going to eat it as they were pretty poor but I try to tell myself that it had rabies and they were doing it a favour. I don't know why they couldn't just slit its throat tho. So brutal.

Today we hired another moped and drove out to a place called Champasak to the ruins of a Wat that was supposed to be what Angkor Wat was designed from. It did look pretty similar and had amazing views for miles as you had to walk up half a mountain to get to the main part. Getting a local bus for 6 hours tomorrow which should be interesting, I'l keep you posted xxx