We checked out of Mama Lao’s guesthouse and soon realised that we didn’t have enough money to get off the island. There are no ATM’s here, and after trying to exchange all the foreign currency we had, we still didn’t have enough! Fortunately, we bumped into Lisa (a Dutch girl we’d met a couple of days earlier). She too was heading to Pakse today. She offered to lend us some money, and in return she’d ride pillion. It was a close call, and lucky that we’d met.
So with our new addition to the biker gang we left the island in a very small boat. My confidence in the boat wasn’t great; reinforced by a boy rapidly bailing out the water as made our way across to the mainland. The route to Pakse followed alongside the Mekong through the jungle and dirt roads. We stopped of Wat Phou – a ruined Kymer temple dating back to the 5th Century. It was a beautiful setting and the view from the top was amazing as the ruins lay scattered below.
Out of all the days riding we had no major incidents today, we the exception of us both coming off....me, my foot hit a hidden tree stump and dropped the bike resulting in my electric starter breaking, and Tim.....showing off in front of some locals resulting in a damaged shin bone! After several river crossings we’d finally made to Pakse!
