Laos must be one of the most relaxing places in the world! Everything and everybody is just so laid back, that I feel like floating in a bubble.. Great! First stop here was Savannakhet, a little town at the Mekong-river. Actually it’s just the Mekong between Savannakhet ( Laos ) and Thailand . On day 1 here I managed to fall badly on the bicycle (Yes! The bicycle! Not a motorbike!!), my knee all open, a hole all the way to the bones! (well, a little exaggeration here..) The most scary thing was the “village-nurse” who was called by some women sitting close to the swing where I fell. He disinfected the wound, taking his gloves out of a plastic-bag!! That kind of plastic bag you use for purchasing apples!! Anyway, I really appreciated someone taking care. I was in a shock and the whole village standing around staring at the screaming foreigner while the nurse dropped colourful stuff into my knee.. (Liebe Eltern, des Knie is wieder schoen zusammen gewachsen! Also vielleicht nich grade schoen, aber doch gut!!)
So the second day in Savannakhet I just relaxed, reading my book, drinking liters of sweet bubble-water and watching live. Easy enough to spend a day like that here :) Next day I rented a motorbike and drove to The Turtle Lake. It’s only like 65 kilometers one way, but took me the whole day (10:00 – 17:00!). Roads here are not real roads, more dust stripes with lots of rocks on and deep holes in it. Sun is burning, the red dust is creeping into eyes and nose and possible speed is about 20 km/h. But! Is it fun? Oh yes!!In a very old temple I met 5 very old women who forced me to pray to Buddha, head down, on my knees!! I even offered some incense-sticks. In The Turtle Lake there were actually turtles! Real big ones! Most of the time they were under the water-surface, just coming up once in a while. But when a big Laso-family came with fancy stuff to feed them, they appeared. Lots of them! Nice! I then tried to drive to The Monkey Forrest, but had to give up, because I almost got stuck in a deep-water-hole which filled the whole “road”- no way around.. From Savannakhet I went to Pakse, about 250 kilometers south.
I’ve been to Laos before, but some things I just forgot and it’s so fun to discover them again! Like the bus-rides along with chickens, tons of bags (eggs and oranges, meat and I don’t know what), chairs and bicycles on the roof. Or all the women storming the bus everytime it stops to sell grilled meat on bamboo-sticks, bearing them like aq bouquet of flowers :) I went to Pakse, 250 kilometers south. There I got myself an ear-infection and spent 4 days whining about my illness, driving around on a motorbike visiting marvellous waterfalls and do a little hiking in one of the National Protected Areas. I even spent 2 days on a homestay in the jungle. Very nice there. They have some elephants and by now it's such a long time ago I last saw an elephant.. I almost forgot how cool they are. Drove in a "boat" (just see yourself on the pictures) in the wetlands, tryed to spot some rare birds.. But I think it was ways to hot for any creature to show up, except us tourists ofcourse :) From Pakse I was supposed to take a boat down the Mekong to Champasak. But exactly the day I wanted to go there was no boat.. Yeah right- like EVERY other day, but not the one I wanted to travel..
Laos people are just so relaxed about everything. Ofcourse I coud have taken the boat the next day or may be the next week..
This is one of the great advantages of travelling over a longer period- you don't have to care about time that much.
I decided not to wait anyway and took the tuc-tuc (this kind of rare transport-thing they use in Laos and Cambodia) to the ferrie, the ferrie over the river and hooked up with a truck full of hysteric italien tourists, who were just to happy to drive me into Champasak-"town". At some point you would guess it cannot get any more quiet, but sure it does. In Champasak life stands still- what a great spot!
Like when I found a guesthouse they told me- "yes yes- the rooms are in there", I tossed my backpack in one of the rooms, had some food, found out that maybe another room would be nicer, moved my backpack, went for a walk and changed room again. Everything was just fine with anybody there. Nobody wondered or asked me anything. When I moved out after 2 days I had to make my own bill, remembering all the food and drinks I had, they just believing, that I wouldn't cheat. And I didn't :) Most exciting in Champasak is the Wat Pu, an ancient Khmer temple. Nice. I took a bicycle ride there and had a great day just hanging around the old ruins.Spend the next day bicycling on the island in the Mekong, reading my book and smalltalking to kids. The next thing to do would be going south to the 4000 islands in the Mekong Delta, but I don't think I can do more much more quietness :) Gotta go north, do some trekking.. | 