The author of the book I am reading now travels through Japan, China and Russia using the same moto `I am in exactly the right places, thinking, doing and feeling exactly the right things...'. Well I could not have put it any better! Everything I do here feels so right, every moment just lapses perfectly into the other, it is just a perfect jigsaw puzzle. I just wish it had more pieces to it... My puzzle is quite small (only 2 months!) but still very rich in colours and details.
I have now left the organic Farm in Vang Vieng where I spent 2 very special weeks and met some incredible people. And really, that is when you realize that it is mostly the people that shape your travels. Both my encounters with Lao people and fellow travelers have been the highlights of my experience here: a real breath of fresh air.
I am now traveling with Julia, a lovely american girl I met on the farm. We left Vang Vieng and traveled to Ventiane (Capital of Laos) where we arranged our visas for Cambodia. After reading that you have to have a masochist streak to you if you try to go local and attempt the 12 hour overnight bus Journey down to Pakse in a vehicule filled to the brim with both animals and humans we decided to fork out the extra 2 dollars and go VIP...Even though this is normally against my principles it was a wise decision!
Our Super VIP bus arrived at 7 am and we started a whole expedition which involved a tuck tuck journey, a local bus and a boat trip to get to Champasak. When we set foot on to the mekong's shore again we knew we had made the right decision. Champasak is beautiful, the villages are still relatively off the beaten track (judging by the scarce amount of tourists that choose to spend the night there), the people are extra nice and eager to interact with us (mass tourism has not yet spread its corrupting tentacles) and life is so so so relaxed. My whole body just drifted into a layedback mode that was unknown to me yet. blissful!
Most people go to Champasak for the day just to visit the What Phou Champasak temple. The ruins are enchanting and date back to the period of the famous Angkor Watt site in Cambodia. Definately worth seeing especially on your way to Cambodia. Unlike most others we decided to stay 2 nights and make the most out of this charming location. And we where among the very lucky few (I quote the lonely planet) who get to visit the neighboring Island, which name I shall not mention because if you are planning to go there you should work a little extra hard and help preserve this gem of a place.
The island is about 8 km long. We spent the whole day biking around beautiful villages in which time seemed to have stoped. At one point we sat by a dirt road and some buffaloes enjoying the scenery when a whole family came out to 'talk' to us. They spoke no english we spoke practically no Lao but we managed to spend 1 hour with them exhausting all the Lao in our phrasebooks and wished we had planned for a homestay. We both came away amazed that such a place still existed. Amazed at the quality of life these people seemed to have despite not having as many dollars as us... Just dazled and amazingly amazed!
Know we are back into 'civilisation' and I am writing to you from a computer screen in Pakse. We just came here to get over and done with civilised things... booked our flight to Siem Reap Cambodia for the 14th, whent to a bank and are heading back to our blissful Lao lifestyle shortly. We are going to the 4000 islands, at the very south of Laos where electricity runs out at 10 PM and you can rent a bungalow for 1 dollar by the mekong river. So I guess you will not hear from me for a while hey!
Thanks to all for your messages I really enjoy reading them please don' t stop!!!! This is a part of civilisation i still enjoy :)
