After only and hour and a half and another good flight with another on board meal we arrived in Pakse. Impressions of this city were not so favourable as those of Luang Prabang had been, it is not a city of UNESCO heritage material. It was a change of scene to go with the change in climate. We had moved from the temperate northern climate with its pretty historic centre, timber french style buildings and tree lined streets to the altogether different humid heat and concrete of Pakse. One of the first things to redeem it was that it was cheaper (in the main) and we even managed to get a room with the now much wished for air-con and the extra addition of a TV with a remote control (even if it was a chopstick!). The only thing that cost more was bike rental and being stingey we got one bike for us to share. This did make exploring a little easier as long as we were on the flat, hills were definately a problem and with sam being the pedaller it was understood i would walk these. It was the cause of much amusement to some of the local kids who were probably unused to seeing such a sight as surely most tourists splash out the extra couple of dollars to get 2 bikes who raced us down the street and unsuprisingly (and much to our dissapointment!) won!
The choice of food options was not quite as great as Luang Prabang but we did manage another BBQ this time it was called a korean BBQ, we also found a good Indian which we took advantage of. The numerous frogs legs dishes on various menus did not however entice us. Evening entertainment was not to be found and after dark the only noise apart from dogs barking and the odd motorbike was from the TV's present in every household where the whole family spend the evening glued to the screen.
One thing that we saw that was unusual was a nursery in the front of one of the buildings (where the tv is usually located) behind the metal grate gate. It appeared more like a jail but the second day conditions were slightly improved by the addition of chairs to the previously all concrete room!. The children did seem remarkably happy despite the environment even though a few looked like they were trying to escape with their arms or legs put through the metal grid keeping them in.
Our options for activities were either to go down to the mekong islands of si phan don or a trip to the bolevan plateau for coffee and waterfalls. We decided on the plateau, i think part of the attraction was that we could get there ourselves on a motorbike. We hired a bike, got a map and the name of places to stay and then with our bags in storage we were off. It was nice to be able to see things ourselves again. We had a good drive to our destination of the waterfall village of Tad Lo passing a lot of villages and fields. It was a good way to watch the local way of life and the children waved and shouted hello along the route. We stopped off at a waterfall on the way which was very pretty but there were a few coach loads of tourists there at the same time which was a little off putting as was the fact that a group of them wanted to take lots of photos of us. After we had obliged with a few shots we escaped and got back on the road and by mid afternoon had arrived at our destination where after a little searching we found Tims one of the recommended places to stay. On talking to people at the hostel we decided that we had made the right decision to miss the islands, the heat coupled with the lack of fans due to there being no electricity and all the bugs made it a little less picturesque in my head at least.
The river is definately the life blood of the people in the area at every area there were people swimming, washing themselves and their clothes, fishing in it and using it for irrigating their crops (allotments!). We ventured in for a swim but made our exit before the local elephants had their bath. We took a trek on one of these elephants after some of the people staying with us did it and recommended it. This consisted of a fairly leisurely 1 and a half hours through the river and the local village and forest, with just the odd tree to duck or a hill that meant holding on was essential. The elephants seemed very happy, there were no sticks used to hit them and direct them and chains were only used minimally to restrain them. They were all old working elephants used to hard work so i suppose doing the trek keeps them occupied after retirement. They were certainly looked after and ours at least got his own way a few times by being let to stop for a few juicy bits of tree on the way around to follow on from the big bunch of bananas that had been given to him at the start.
We also went to one of the local villages to see a local festival/ceremony which we were told would include some traditional dancing and buffallo sacrifice. It did not quite meet our expectations or the description. It was definatley a different experience. It was really a bit of a drunken disorganised party- it turned out the village chief ('master of ceremonies') had passed out drunk so the ceremony could not take place and was posponed to the next night. The drink was flowing freely especially warm beer and the leathal 'lao lao' and the whole village seemed to be enjoying it, a lot! We made a few new aquaintances in the locals who seemed to find us good company! It was strange to see all the old men who were a lot smaller than us they were like young children but with grown up faces, real characters, very smiley and friendly. It was the difference in size between 'us' foreigners and the petite locals that led to one of the most memorable moments of the evening where 'us' big western giants managed to collapse not one but 2 benches and end up on the floor by merely sitting on them! I think that the locals probably found it even more hilarious than us! In the end we were escorted back to the car after a couple of people started to ask us for money and i even saw one man with a gun. Definately time to leave! especially as we had to leave the next morning with sam driving- nobody needed any more lao lao, it was cheap and the beer was warm and more than a few of the group indulged in a few bottles.
We did make it back the next day in one piece although the dodgey petrol gauge which only read empty did lead us to run out of petrol, luckily we ran out on the way into a petrol station! how lucky! Our last night in Lao was accompanied by a massive storm which continued to the next day albeit at a slightly less intense rate (less thunder and lightening) until we got onto our flight under some big golf umbrellas (kindly provided by the airline for the walk to the plane). So it was good bye Laos and hello Cambodia.
