I decline an offer to go north on the night bus, this group of 4000 islands has been recommended and i want to see the Wat at Champasak and the waterfalls at Si Phan Dhon. The journey is not great however - I arrive late in Pakse (by bus with 2 chickens this time) and then nobody wants to take me to Champasak for anything less than the price of my soul (i hate being ripped off). It takes some wrangling, it takes 1 bus, 1 ferry, 1 Sawngthaen and 6 tuk-tuks! - ouch for what should have been about a 3.5 hour journey.
Champasak turns out to be one long road, my only evening entertainment is to look at the cook. (s)he has answered the question of what happens to ladyboys when they retire. Fat and ugly - but fascinating too. Champasak has Wat Phou Champasak a 12km bike ride away, it's supposedly the best Kmer ruins in Laos. I guess it was worth the visit. After 2 nights of looking at the cook I'm more than ready to leave for Don Khong - the main island in the 4000 islands.
It's a good journey - i catch a lift with a bunch of card playing travelling salesmen - I don't think they are quite our idea of what that means. They drop me off at a nice guest house, all Teak with big spacious rooms and a veranda that i can just about see the Mekong from. The owner sells cheap booze, the rooms aren't too expensive and withing 5 minutes I'm talking to other guests. Can you tell from my tone that I'm about to spend 5 nights here.
It's a real mixture of days. I spend most of it on a bicycle exploring the islands and riding to S E Asia's biggest (by volume)waterfall (Khone PhaPheng). It's a 55km round trip, not such an easy ride on an old ladies shopping bike, that has a basket and everything. The sun is that intense it actually burns my legs through my "total sunproof" trousers- grrr. It's an enjoyable ride though - the kids are so friendly, I'm forever waving and saying hello (Sa Bai Dee). I have a great time going around Dhon Khong too, at one point i catch up to 3 school kids on their bikes and one starts to race me. We are neck and neck, like two cars at traffic lights. He smiles at me, i smile at him...and then i leave him for smoke. It's amazing how much pleasure i got from beating a 9 year old kid. I go around the islands with a French girl from the guesthouse - even though we had a good time i have no pictures and i don't even know her name! There's some lovely places on Dhon Det and Dhon Khon but there are also lots of tourists, coconut's, pancake's and fruit shakes and the like. I'm glad I'm on Dhon Khong.
I've had time to chill, time to enjoy homemade Lao Lao at less than a euro a litre and a chance to see some real Laos - not just the tourist traps that seem to be everywhere. It's with a tired arm that i wave goodbye to Si Phan Dhon and Laos.
