Up until recently we kept classing our
trips and travels to Indochina as taking place 5 years ago; then it dawned on
us that it was actually a decade ago!
Hmm, time to head back to Laos and see what the southern area had to
offer.
Air Asia only fly to Vientiane so we
decided to fly up to Bangkok, take the night train over to Ubon Ratchatani, bus
it to the border and then take it from there.
Sounds smooth and easy on paper doesn’t it? We should have known the trip wasn’t going to
be that straight-forward when we had an embarrassing moment in the
airport. We heard the final call for our
flight and they were announcing our names.
We’d got there in plenty of time so had toddled off to the book shop to
fill some of that ‘plenty of’ time.
Moral of the story? Never leave
Steve with his nose in a Lonely Planet within 30mins of departure! The flight was full and we’d been allocated
seats far apart from each other. We
didn’t mind as it’s only a short hop to Bangkok and we were soon on Thai soil.
We reached Don Muang train station with a
couple of hours to spare so tucked into some tasty noodles from a local
stall. The train eventually trundled
into the station an hour late, which is good going since it had only come from
the city centre! We’d not been able to
secure sleeper berths and simply couldn’t get comfy on our seats so mentally
prepared ourselves for a long night. It
turned out to be a long, long night as the timetabled 11 hour journey stretched
into a 16 hour affair. We weren’t too
concerned as we reckoned we still had enough time to get to the border before
it shut. Foolishly we thought there’d be
all manner of transport on disembarking in Ubon Ratchatani, one of the largest
places along the line. Not only were the
locals not expecting anyone to get down they certainly didn’t expect to see a
couple of foreign tourists.
Fortunately someone quickly cottoned on to
the idea that we might need a taxi and hailed a random car. Given that we were now very pushed for time
and there was no alternatives on offer we had to accept a higher than
anticipated fare. To say the fella
didn’t have new wheels would be a gross understatement. The noise from the engine was horrendous; we
broke down at the petrol pump and the car struggled up the slightest
incline. Against the odds we reached
immigration with minutes to spare. To
add to our relief the border was quiet; so we were quickly ushered out of
Thailand and the Laos visas were processed within minutes.
Now we’d expected southern Laos to be quiet
and laid back but we certainly hadn’t expected the border to almost devoid of
activity. Well, other than the
villager’s getting on with life in the middle of no man’s land. Again we’d expected people to pounce on us
wanting to take us to Pakse, the nearest town, but we were completely
ignored. We toddled down the lane and
eventually found a taxi where once again we had to pay over the odds. But hey, we were on our way, and now it was
time for the holiday to start.
Pakse
Pakse is a nice enough town on the banks of
the Mekong; it’s worth pottering down to the old bridge over the river, looking
at the last remaining colonial buildings and taking a peek at Wat Luang. Other than that it hasn’t got a great deal to
hold your attention but it’s a good stopping off point where it’s very easy to
organise trips and transport. We stayed
in Lao Chaleun Hotel which was
centrally located, clean and a good deal at about a tenner a night. We found short hops in private hire vehicles
such as cycle rickshaws, to be expensive but long distance travel was
cheap. For example, to get from town to
the bus station cost Kp35 000/= but it only cost Kp30 000/= each on the bus all
the way to Tat Lo.
Tat Lo
Now we knew we were visiting a quiet part
of the world, and that it was off season to boot, but the welcome we got a
Saise Guesthouse was bordering on rude.
The lass who’d been allocated reception duty, just in case someone
turned up, was snoozing and looked at us as if we were aliens! Not surprisingly they had a room – in fact
several! For some bizarre reason she
decided to show us the room that was as far away as possible and without a view
of the falls. As the week progressed it
became apparent that at this time of year the majority of tourists are
backpackers on a tight budget. Hence,
each time we were shown the cheapest option first and believe me some of them
were ridiculously cheap. Now obviously
that tends to lead them to be shabby and the first room we looked at Saise was
positively falling down.
We eventually talked her into showing us a
room that was a little more to our liking and with a view of the falls – let’s
face it they were the main draw.
Unbelievably someone had just checked out so we had to wait for the room
to be ready! We had no idea how long
that would take but luckily it was lunch time.
We wandered back down to the restaurant not really expecting much but
against the odds they rustled up some tasty scran. We eventually got to put our bags in the room
and yet again it turned out to be a good deal – RM60 / $20. There was a storm brewing so we were doubly
pleased that we could afford the waterproof room!
We spent the afternoon pottering around and
avoiding showers. We did our usual
checking out other options but were happy with where we were. Tat Lo Lodge is the best option in the area
but of course it is much more expensive.
However, they do have 3 rescued elephants and offer rides at a very
reasonable price. It was great to be off
the beaten track and witnessing rural life in all its plod. The journey over had been pretty much as
expected; interesting villages and lovely scenery, but for once the bus wasn’t
packed to brimming or heavily laden. The
bus dropped at the junction for Tat Lo and yet again no one seemed keen to earn
a few extra Kip so we walked the 2kms down to the guesthouse area. Throughout the afternoon and evening the
falls became more impressive. At first
due to the rain and later they were positively thundering as the sluice gate
further up river at the power station had been opened. The falls changed from a scenic spot where
people were enjoying a dip and a paddle to a raging torrent best watched from
the comfort of a balcony.
It was lovely to wake up the next morning
to the tinkle of the waterfall and blue skies.
We had a couple of activities pencilled in but knew they wouldn’t take
up all our time so relaxed with balcony brews – the travel kettle remains one
of our most coveted possessions. By
mid-morning we were ready to walk to the top and third level of the falls and
luckily the sun was beaming. We set off
at my usual not very slow pace and were soon sweating buckets; however, we
could see a black cloud looming. The
Lonely Planet had outlined the walk we intended to do and we’d read it that we
had to walk 10kms to the power station before we’d have to find a side
track. On hindsight it must have been a
10kms round trip as we reached the power station way too quickly for us to have
covered that distance. Once there we
could see a huge rock on the hill side behind the station but there was only a
dribble of water flowing over it. We
hadn’t expected much but were suitably unimpressed and in fact would say only
the bottom two levels are worth looking at.
At the time, since we still thought we had
to walk 10kms, we decided that it couldn’t possibly be our final destination so
carried on up the road. A road we‘d
expected to peter out into a track at any time but in fact remained tarmac and
there was no sign indicating a tourist attraction. We found ourselves in a very traditional
village and it was interesting watching people using old fashioned farming
tools and techniques. Plus it was still
dry so we decided to carry on to see if the road looped round and approached
the falls from a different angle. We
were soon in the middle of nowhere and of course that black cloud that I
mentioned earlier was now over our heads and starting to empty. Still refusing defeat we donned our raincoats
and carried on. The morning’s stroll
rapidly began to lose its appeal and we were convinced we would never reach our
intended destination. We told ourselves
we’d already seen at least part of the falls and they were bobbins so we turned
round and squelched our way back to the guesthouse.
Luckily the rain had abated by the time we
had to return to Tat Lo Lodge and the elephant ride we’d booked the previous
evening. Now considering the day we’d
had and the fact that we’d not yet seen any pachyderms I had very low
expectations. However, on entering the
grounds I was delighted to see a truck swishing about in the hedgerow and
obviously even more excited at seeing the entire beast. The elephants are so well looked after /
trained that they don’t need to be chained or tied up at all. It was wonderful to see them free to wander the
extensive grounds at will yet immediately respond to their mahouts
commands. The 45mins ride (at less than
a tenner a head) was fantastic; we plodded to the top of the second tier of the
falls and continued on through another village.
At one point we were in quite thick vegetation and it felt like we were
miles away from anywhere. Towards the
end of the ride our mahout slid off the elephant with our camera and took loads
of pictures of us in charge of this magnificent animal. Well actually we just sat there enjoying ourselves
while the elephant ambled along a well trodden path. There were a couple of occasions where we
thought we might need to learn a command or two as ellie decided there was a
tasty snack - just over there! Great fun
and great value.
The next morning it was time to return to
Pakse and begin that meander along the Mekong the title promised you. So it was a case of; up, brew, breakfast, pack,
bill shenanigans, walk to the junction and wait for a Pakse bound bus. One pulled in at 10am with seats to spare at
the back of the bus with loads of room for our bags. Granted the journey was hot and sweaty but
you can’t have everything! It only took
2 hours to get to Pakse despite a prolonged stop while the crew and locals
loaded an entire banana plantation on the roof.
The bus station is inconveniently 8kms from town and the tuc tuc driver
into town was the first (and last) Laotian to try to rip us off. To add to our woes the ATM wasn’t working and
the restaurant we fancied trying was shut.
Hey ho! The bad karma soon passed
– we went back to a tried and tasted eatery, found the ATM up and running
again, booked bus tickets back to Ubon Ratchatani and organised a taxi for that
afternoon’s leg of the journey. There’s
only so much public transport fun to be had in one day!
Champasak
The taxi was probably an over indulgence
but we felt it was worth it. We then
jumped in a sampan across the mighty Mekong and wandered down the road to find
a guesthouse. We settled for Anouxa’s
most expensive room but with a balcony overlooking the river it was well worth
12 quid a night. There is a posh option
in town but the rooms are road side so once again we felt we’d plumped for the
best option. Other places did look open
if you really, really, really insisted on staying! We didn’t fancy our chances of them providing
any food so ended up giving our gaff all our business. By the time we’d finished our evening meal
we’d sorted out the plans for the following day and booked transport to our next
port of call. It meant a 5.40am start so
and an early bath was announced.
Champasak was very quiet and we got the
feeling that even in season it wouldn’t muster much of a bustle. There is certainly more money in this area as
the houses were much larger and made from more robust materials; plus there
were a number of large, ornate wats. The
main reason people stay here – other than chilling by the river – is to visit
Wat Phu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our friendly, helpful host told us that we’d be able to enter early by
simply purchasing an early bird ticket.
This would give us time to take in the site and get back to Champasak
ready to catch our boat down the Mekong.
At this time of year the latest the boat can set off is much earlier in
the day due to the threat of monsoon storms and choppy waters.
By 6am we were breakfasted and peddling our
way towards an ancient Khmer ruin. Not
surprisingly the roads were virtually devoid of all vehicles and activity
making the cycle ride most pleasant. Sure
enough the early bird ticket really does exist and at a trifling surcharge it’s
well worth it to get the place all to yourself.
The ruins are far from extensive but they are set in a lovely area and
well worth wandering around for an hour or so.
The main buildings, what are left of them, were off limits while they
continue their painstaking restoration work.
The site extends its way up the base of a hill and it’s possible to
clamber up to a rocky area at the back.
From there we had great views and spotted the first influx of tourists
for the day. Not only had we beaten all
the tourists but we got there before the workmen too – definitely worth getting
up early for. On the way back we stopped
to photograph a random huge Buddha perched under a bo tree in the middle of
nowhere.
By 10am we were bidding farewell to the
family running the guesthouse and on a private hire boat bound for Don
Khong. Now that’s the way to travel –
well it certainly was for the first 3 hours – watching people not catching any
fish(!) and spotting the odd settlement along the banks. With only an hour to go a dense black cloud engulfed
our boat head on and we were instantly sonched.
That in itself wasn’t too bad as we knew the risks we were taking
travelling in open transport during the monsoon but the storm around us was a
little unnerving. We felt like sitting
ducks as lightening flashed around – fortunately it was further away than we’d
first thought. The storm moved on and we
were soggy rather than dripping by the time we had to disembark. We squelched our way along the short strip of
guesthouses and decided to enquire in the poshest looking place. It turned out to be an inspired move as we
ended up with the best and cheapest room of the trip. Ratana or Lattana, depending on which sign
you read, only has 4 rooms and they all have full patio doors leading onto a
balcony. Luckily we got an upstairs room
so didn’t feel like we’d checked into a goldfish bowl.
Don
Khong
I think you’ve got the picture by now and
this place was as sleepily empty as everywhere else. There were a smattering of tourists around
and on the whole the owners and staff seemed to be more alert to people’s
needs. We’d reached the edge of an area
known as 4000 islands in the Mekong.
We’ve no idea how many islands there actually are, and whether or not
clumps of grass count, but to be fair the river is riddled with mounds of
earth. We decided to take a full day
trip to explore the area further and so were up with the lark – again.
The 2hr boat ride down the Mekong to Don Khon
was lovely and the weather was on our side.
There were a couple of other tourists on the boat but they were just
using it as a ferry to move on. The
first port of call was Don Det and we’d read it was better suited for people
half our age and wanting to party. It
didn’t look too clever and even though Don Khon was better we were glad we’d
settled for Don Khong. Once on Don Khon
we were allocated bicycles and headed off towards Li Phi Falls. As you know we’re not usually enamoured with
waterfalls but we’d decided to just go with the flow and see what the day
brought. The falls turned out to be
excellent as they are a set of powerful rapids.
Basically the wide, slow meandering Mekong is forced through a channel
over huge boulders making it dramatic to look at and listen to.
From there we cycled about 5kms across the
beautiful island to a jetty area where the Mekong is once again wide and
calm. Here in the middle of the water
somewhere is the border with Cambodia.
Now we hadn’t come to go to a different country but to try and spot the
extremely rare Irrawaddy dolphins. We
were assured that we were in luck and the dolphins were around but they’d moved
over into Cambodian waters. Again we
were told that wasn’t a problem as all we needed to do was putter over on the
boat and pay $2 a head ‘entrance into Cambodia’ fee. We were issued with a ticket that stated: “Thanks
for your contributions to saving Dolphin that the world endangered spicy.” Priceless!
We sat on top of a grassy bank overlooking the area where 3 dolphins
were swimming around. From our elevated
position we got much better views of them than we had 10 years ago from sitting
in a sampan. We have a bit of a rule
that you have to have a beer when you visit a new country. Luckily there was some for sale so we were
forced to partake in a tin of Angkor beer!
We then retraced our steps by bike and boat and were happy to look back
on a most enjoyable and rewarding day.
Although the pace of life is SLOOOOOWW in
these parts people are happy with their lot and are quick to smile. The children are full of fun and enjoy life
without mobile phones and computers.
People may be generally poor but we didn’t see the abject poverty
abundant in India. Everyone seemed to
have a roof over their head even if it was just made from locally growing
materials and not very sturdy. Almost
everyone we met was open and honest and we’re convinced the Laos language
doesn’t feature words such as; crime, rush or hurry! Some people may find it too laid back and
chilled but we feel that life in the west has gone too far down the opposite
road. The way of life here proves that
you don’t need a plethora of rules, routines, procedures and paperwork to get
the job done.
