The next 2 days we spent in Pakse as it has good transport links going north. Pakse is very similar to a small french town surrounded by Laos countryside. We left Champassak and took the local (packed to the rims) bus with the locals, arriving in Pakse 30 minutes later and checked into our guesthouse. We spent the morning exploring Pakse and Matt decided Gem's birthday present would be a massage at the former palace now a hotel. We had a couple of beers and ...

After a cramped boat ride and a sauna of a bus ride we were told to get off the bus with a simple "Champassak!" from the driver. Most people on the bus were going straight through to Pakse but we had read about Vat Phu and decided it was a must see. The few passengers who got off with us walked down the road to the river and got on a boat. We thought they must be going somewhere else as the driver had clearly told us we were in Champassak. 2 hours later and a...

Si Phan Don (4 Thousand Islands) is an archipelago of islands where time goes slowly and life is laid back, a wonderful introduction to Laos. We left Cambodia heading for the most southern tip of Laos, our chosen Island was Don Det where we were told there is more of a packpacker scene. Our first obstacle was the boarder control, most tourists travel to Laos from Thailand or Vietnam so the Cambodia/Laos boarder is quite new. We are getting used to boarder cont...