Thursday 22 - Vientiane to Tad Leuk

So we waited & waited & waited but the bus hasn't come. Was this Laos time (everything is infinitely slower paced here) or had they forgotten us!!!

While we were selecting the tour for the North East of the country and found Stray we looked through the others they offered. We knew we needed to head to the border with Cambodia and aim to cross it in 2 weeks time. The leg of Laos is similar to the leg of Italy only on one side is the border with Vietnam. There were night buses that ran from top to bottom but we had found stray offered another pass. 7 days to get from Vientiane to Don Det (4,000 islands). Sounded ideal and there were some really interesting stops.

On booking we were told we could be picked up from the Orchid Guesthouse at 9am. It was now nearly 10am and nothing had been past since we had arrived at 8:30. The world sim we bought definitely had a use as we called the office and then after a few conversations via Skype the error was spotted. The booking agent in New Zealand had advised to us to Orchid Guesthouse but in fact the pick up was the Orchid Hotel. Small slip from the staff over in New Zealand but now we'd worried that we'd missed the chance to join the group.

The office in Luang Prabang were very helpful and they advised the bus was only at the COPE centre just outside the city. They would come back and collect us. PHEW!!!

The bus arrived and we couldn't have been happier. We got to COPE & the others were watching a film. I was gutted we missed our chance to make the most of seeing COPE as it was a stop I was looking forward to. After learning about all the bombings, the war & the hard work of MAG this centre was helping to also pick up the pieces. COPE build prosthesis for people injured from bombies and help them through physical therapy for their new limb. There were many stories inside of their success stories along with a collection of homemade prosthesis that people had made before COPE was in action. These were made out of just about anything. One thing has struck me about the Laos people since we have arrived in how resourceful they are. They are poor people in monetary terms with most people earning less than 1 US$ a day but the way they use the things they do have around them to solve everyday problems is inspiring.

The group came back out from the film. Half of the were heading back to Vientiane so again we were left with a small group but a much bigger bus. Yippee!!! This tour we had Michael as our tour leader with Pong as local guide. Jennifer from the UK, Karen from the US and the familiar face of Aussie Alan!!!

Stopping off at the local market for supplies we drive to Tad Leuk falls. The drive took us through a national park, I'm always so bowled over by how lush & green everything is over here. Thick dense jungle where you know the insects outnumber mammals & you wouldn't want to wander off into it without a local! Usually this stop is a camping stop where the tents are placed between the falls and the jungle but unfortunately they had a group of international students due for a study trip so we were bumped to the visitor centre. We had mattresses on the floor & a sleeping sheet. The visitor centre is a small building detailing the animals found in the area. It's folding doors open right out to the outside, you can hear the falls from your bed!

A few people went swimming in a place above the falls, I didn't fancy a swim but I enjoyed a paddle!! Pong was making us dinner so we sat down and some of the locals joined us. Out came the Lao Lao as is customary. I managed to limit it to one as I switched to lao beer! Their drinking custom is quite hard for someone like me. Don't get me wrong I like drinking but I like to choose the drink & I prefer long drinks over shots. Laos culture is that someone has the bottle, be it beer or Lao Lao. They pour you a drink (size is up to them) & you're expected to knock it back in one. As this is a social thing everyone's watching (especially with us foreigners!) so no pressure. We were prewarned about the homestay later in the trip but that just made me nervous as I can't stand peer pressure

After switching to beer we chatted until dinner was ready. I was sat with one of the generals there. He had been teaching himself English and really wanted to practise. He said it was books & tv that taught him & it was impressive, much better than my Lao. The back of a dried fruit crisp packet provided great topics including fruit, people, families, homes etc.

A dish was served, it was raw beef mixed with various spices. It tasted really nice but I couldn't get past the hygiene of it all as I could only imagine how many flys had landed on it before it got to this bowl. Most of the group were thinking along the same lines so we asked Pong to fry it. He did and then it was amazing, so tasty. We also then had grilled beef kebab & sticky rice. The sunset during dinner so we moved to candlelight for the rest of the night. Karen taught us an Israeli card game called Yaniv. I failed miserably & Sy whooped everyone!!

Lying on my mattress that night I couldn't help but smile as I could hear the noise of the jungle from the open door. It's not everyday you get to stay somewhere like this!!

Friday 23 - Tad Leuk to Kong Lor (7km Cave)
Leaving early meant we got to see the Sala Viewpoint and the Phu Phu Man limestone forest. Such amazing scenery it was awesome to stand over such a great view. There was a bit more driving today but its nice and chilled on the bus. Having a double seat to yourself is a bonus! We arrived & checked in then Sy, Jenny & I headed down to the cave armed with our headlights as we didn't know what to expect. We arranged a boatman to take us through. We clamber in the canoe & head into the abyss of the 7km cave. The stalagtites & stalagmites are really well formed and preserved. We have to periodically hop
out of the boat to clear an exposed bank or to see some of the larger formations. Everytime im a little wobbly as my headlamp is terrible in this vast cave. At points you cant even see the ceiling. The water is refreshingly cool & it did feel like the route went on forever!! Hopefully we got some great shots. There would be been some great reflection shots as the water was so still but the lack of light would have meant it wouldn't have captured the perfect shot. That evening we just relaxed and played the card game we had learnt yesterday. I still failed miserably but so did Sy this time. Didn't help that we were playing with an Israeli we'd met in the guesthouse!!

Saturday 24 - Kong Lor to Thakhek

Good for us but today is a short journey!! we passed whats called the Great Wall of Tha Kek, an ancient wall built to protect Laos during the time of conflict with Thailand. Interesting to learn that the Chiang Mai province was once a part of Laos. We stopped at a really cool Eco retreat that is a specialist rock climbing place. The green climbers home is in beautiful surrounds, aimed at rock climbers, cyclists & strangely slackliners. It had a great chill
area and served gorgeous food. It was our lunch stop but I have to say stopping there for a night would have been awesome. We visited a nearby lake but no one was up for swimming. The hotel we pulled up outside was a massive hotel but dear oh dear it was grotty inside. Lovely view of the Mekong but that's about all it had going for it! We found some beers, dinner & tried to eat well knowing that tomorrow is a homestay & god knows what the food will be like there.

Sunday 25 - Tha Kek to Xe Champhone

Off again!! gotta admit im pretty tired of this continual going, going, going. My brain has no more room for the cool things we're seeing. Need some processing time!! We're heading to a homestay today & it's going to interesting ending up with a family.

We stop off at the 200 year old Hotay Pidok Buddhist Library (with scriptures written on palm leaves!).

We also stopped at the rather cool Turtle Lake with soft-shell turtles that are revered by the locals. The turtles have long necks and can grow to quite large sizes. Need to check the name for them but that are rare and its nice the villagers look after them rather than eat them. We feed them corn puffs & they seem happy!!

The village were staying in is in the Xe Champhone Wetlands. It is so remote, we arrive as far as we can by bus then it's off on foot. If the water level on the river is higher then is a boat across but it's quite low so I roll up my trousers and wade over. Some of the guys tried the "bridge" (not stable enough for me!!). I decided from the get go that my balance was not good enough for that. Funny enough so did most of them after trying to get across. We drop our things at the village an then its off into Monkey Forest - a sacred forest, home to hundreds of Rhesus Macaque Monkeys! We fed some bananas and took some great photos then back to the homestay. The homestay is actually very nice, not completely without things. Some electricity but only short times, some plumbing but mainly people collect the rain water. As we sit and relax for the afternoon I am surrounded by chicken & chicks, dogs & puppies, cats, goats, pigs, cows & birds. It's def way more livestock than I'm used to being around!!

Dinner is prepared & out comes the Lao Lao. The local moonshine type whiskey thing. Potent. All the other girls get a small shot but I seem to get stiffed with a man size shot. It burns its way down our throats & I return to my 7-up to try & clear the taste. Dinner for us is beef skewer kebabs, sticky rice & fried vegetables. All served up so we dig in & it's yummy. They also offer us a Laos dish of laap. We all try some & Sy especially likes it as its got a good chilli kick. Turns out after that what we thought was beef was infant sheeps stomach. Very glad we didn't know before. We share a few beer Lao over dinner & smile as our local guide gets more & more drunk.

Pong asks the family to put the music on. Bearing in mind this is a quiet village there is no way everyone didn't hear the music. Pong wanted to show us how to dance Lao style. We film him and encourage the ladies of the family to join us and show us how it's done. There are lots of giggles as we all try and the Lao Lao does its rounds. We switched tactic and bought a beer to share like they do!! We went to bed that night happy & a bit tipsy! We left to big waves and there we were, off again!!

Monday 26 - Xe Champhone to Pakse

Today was a flat out drive to Pakse. It wasnt too painful and we were looking forward to our lunch stop. Its in the Bolaven Plateau and our stop is one of the coffee plantations. We eat first and I have to say it was one of the best chicken baguettes I've had in a long time along with a very good cappuccino. In the same place is the 120m high twin waterfalls of Tad Fane.

We walk down towards the waterfall & it's just beautiful. I wonder how powerful it is in wet season as its pretty powerful now. There was a little mound you could take photos from as well as have a cooling down from the spray. It was a proper "timotei" waterfall with lush green surrounding it. We headed back up to the coffee place as some people wanted to do the plantation tour. The guy who runs the place is mad, 72, Lao but lived in France for many years. Just as they went to do the tour the heavens opened. In Mr Coffees eyes what else could you but drink Lao Lao. He was very proud of his 11 varieties, all brewed with different woods, roots, insects & spices. Somehow when I said no thank it was left there & my god was I grateful. By the end I think they'd all done about 4 or 5 shots. Including a shot from a bottle containing one of the centipedes I mentioned in an earlier blog that is meant to be pretty poisonous.

That evening we met the most crazy family over dinner. They were French. Mum,dad and 4 kids started cycling in France, Belgium,Denmark, Sweden, Norway,Estonia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Thailand now Laos. They have been going for 7.5 months and they're away for a year. They are doing between 30 & 75km cycling a day. The 5 year old boy is attached to his dads bike but the 9,11 and 13 year old ride their own bikes. We were utterly speechless, they shared some great stories about their time so far, Mongolia certainly sounded like a challenge with the food!! I think I must have had too much Lao coffee as that night I toss and turn until 2am and then as I'm nicely asleep a damn rooster starts off at 3:15am and won't stop. I have to say the rooster alarm clock is wearing a little thin but that won't change for our journey I think.

Tuesday 27th - Pakse to Don Det

We're really excited as we've planned for around 7 days down here against our will. Both Sy & I don't stop easy but we need to and this place looks like a great place to do it. The bus journey is quick & then it's onto a boat to get to Don Det island. The guesthouse is awesome, bungalows along the river with hammocks, this guesthouse is in the sunset side of the river and we sit with Mike outside his bungalow to share a beer and watch the sun go down. We decide were going to move to this bungalow tomorrow as its better so Alan helps us fix another hammock!

Waving the rest of the gang off in the morning it's now time for eating, relaxing & general time out watching the river go past. The stray tours were a great way to see so much if the country & be off the beaten track that you experience some great things. It feels a bit weird to be going alone again but nice at the same time!!

Click here to view our Laos photos