Hey All,
Wow, I don't really know else what to say. I know sometimes I don't shut up, but I am just speechless right now, trying to find the proper words to describe the last 2 days. I know I have preached it before but sometimes no words, no pictures, do justice to the things I see and experience. Those are the times I wish you were here with me, because that is the only way to know. Its not lost on me how truly blessed and lucky I am to have the opportunity to do what I do.
No shout out today, but my entry today is dedicated to the only true backpacker I know, Katie. Today I officially have crow for lunch, as there are things I told her I would never do as a traveler, and well, things happen. Story to follow.
I am going to pause the blog here for a moment to allow you to mute the TV, gather the children, and pop some popcorn.......... go ahead, I will wait........
Today, I tackle a long awaited bucket list item, the Bolaven Plateau.
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| Morning Alms |
I was up early as usual, I think 5:45, but as it turned out, it was a good thing. Around 6 , I opened the curtains and noticed ladies setting up for morning Alms. I grabbed my camera and rushed down. For those new to my blogging, there is a centuries old tradition, where the monks from the local temples, walk around town and gather food for their 1 meal of the day. People gather at the side of the road after sunrise and as the monks pass, they put food, usually rice, in their bowls. The act of giving the monks food and money is known as almsgiving. The people around the hotel set up a little stool in the street, and the monks come by in single file line. As they approach someone, they stop, start chanting a prayer, then one by one receive the alms. Its so quiet at times, just the patting of the monks barefeet on the pavement. I try my best to stay out of the way, and not interfere. Its such a cool thing to watch.
After breakfast, I pack a few extra supplies, and decide to wear my backpack instead of taking the European Carryall. Extra sunscreen, OFF since I will be out in the mountains, couple of bottles of water, and some protein bars. I head off to Ms Noy's to get my motorbike. They had a good selection, as its slow season, and while getting the paperwork done, this lady kept yelling "yenta, yenta" to the helper. I am sure it was not yenta but sounded like it. So, since I only know one Yenta, I decided to name my bike "Iris". There was another bike next to her that was getting a little long in the tooth, had she picked that one I would have gone with "Joan". I love zinging Joan, even from hallway around the world. While getting ready this morning it finally dawned on me, I had left my helment on the kitchen counter at home. Its hard to find helments that fit me here since they are small people. I found one, but it was red with a big Hello Kitty sticker on the side, but thank goodness, one of the last ones was a go. I look stupid enough on a scooter, but with a big Hello Kitty Logo, I would have been on every facebook page in Laos with some kind of caption. She gave me a map and some tips, and pointed me in the right direction, and I was off.
My destination was the Bolaven Plateau, and it heads up into the mountains outside of Pakse through small towns, villages, with several waterfall stops. I think its around 250 km for the whole loop. You can do a 1 day, 2 day or 3 day trip depending on your time and speed. Once outside of town and you hit an intersections, which at that point you can go left or right, then make a big loop and brings you back to that same intersection. There are side destinations off the loop that the 2 and 3 day trip call for. I planned on the 1 day and with her advise should be back by dark. The map is pretty thorough and I am pretty good with directions, so was not anticipating any problems. I had her phone number, even though I don't have a phone here, but was assured someone would have one if I had any issues. She also assured me it was good road around the loop.
I drove the bike a bit around town to get the feel for it, make sure I would not get run over by the big trucks and buses on the main road. I then headed on the highway out of town and since gas was low, pulled into a station to fill up for the trip, and this was like a trucker type stop, had a coffee shop and everything. Down the road I was doing well, traffic was very light, thank goodness. I would stop and take a picture when I wanted. I came to an area where they were selling homemade knives on the side of the road. There were like 4-5 of these places all next to each other and seems the whole village did this. I could see the blacksmith banging the metal to make the knives and went to watch for a bit. He would constantly put the piece into a fire then move it to his anvil and beat it with a big hammer. I found it amusing that the anvil was a bomb casing from the Vietnam War. I checked out his finished knives hanging on the side of the road and let me tell you, they were sharp. Wish I could have communicated with him but he did not seem to mind me watching him work.
Further down the road there was another village area where they were making and selling all kinds of bamboo baskets, brooms with large display racks on the side of the road. I watched a coupe of ladies weaving some bamboo into hats, they were pretty fast at it.
It took a while but soon reached Paksong, and it was here I made a fatal error. You are supposed to veer off to the left but I missed it, probably looking at everything as I tend to do. I drove another 45 minutes before I realized I had goofed. So, reverse back to Paksong. I think you can sense a theme here, I stop way to much and lost almost 2 hours headed the wrong way. I barely found the cutoff on Paksong as it was not marked at all, I had to show someone the map and point it out to me.
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| Pak Song |
It was quite a long journey to Tad Lo, but I did have to stop a lot, as my large rear on this small bike got uncomfortable quickly, not to mention my carpel tunnel holding the gas down. I would have to stop and walk around shaking my hands, I know some people thought I was insane. Found several cool villages and had to stop despite the time frame. Stopped to have a lunch at a small little roadside village. It was a bowl of noodles with chicken, very nice I must say. Finally reached Tad Lo cutoff and drove to the falls. Wow, this place was so amazing. I could have spent all afternoon here. There were several local ladies beating their laundry on the rocks of the river bank. The water was so cool and clean, had to wade out into it a bit, almost falling in twice. Managed a few selfie shots but they turned out really bad. Broke out the small tripod and set on a rock and got a decent pic. I found a shady spot and drank a water and had a protein bar for a snack. As I was leaving this guy was riding an elephant and went close to the water but did not go in. Not sure where he came from and what that was about.
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| Tad Lo Waterfall |
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Playing with my camera tripod
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It was at this time I realized I was in trouble, it was already 4 pm, and I was not going to make it back to town by dark, and did not want to be traveling on that road after dark. I decided to head down the road anyway back to the main highway. About 30 minutes later I saw a homemade sign for Mr Viengs Coffee and Homestay. The sign also noted they speak English and French. I pulled in for some advise. It was a bit off the road, but he was a short, very nice gentleman who was eager to show me how they pick, dry, sort and roast coffee beans. After sampling his good coffee, I inquired about his homestay. It was 20,000 kip per night ($2.50) and a meal was $1.50 extra. It was so nice there, the breeze was great, and he was super nice guy. He showed me the quarters and it was basically a room with a bamboo mat in the floor and a flat pillow. I had no spare clothes, no toiletries, just a bottle of water, can of OFF and some sunscreen. I saw no other options at this point. I took the mat and he stated its quiet tonight, that he had 9 backpackers a few nights ago and 7 last night. Right at dark, a motorbike pulled in and it was a young couple from France, surprise.
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| Mr Vieng |
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| Mr Vieng Home Stay Hut |
So this is where I eat crow, having made the statement to Katie, I would NEVER stay at a place that had dorm room setup and a shared bathroom (in this case a shared outhouse). I forgot to mention the best part, the outhouse, it was an Asian style toilet, in other words, no western style throne to sit on, just a piece of ceramic in the floor with a hole that you would squat over to go. There was no toilet paper, there was a hose with a spay head like you rinse dishes at the sink. I am not done, the shower was a bare concrete area where you dipped a bowl into some cold water and poured it over yourself. I could only imagine some of my high maintenance friends at this place. Dinner was good and his wife was a good cook, even though I have no idea what it was, but it was tasty. After dinner we all sat at Mr Viengs homemade outside furniture and with him translating from French to English and visa versa we had a good time. I retired first as I was dead tired from the riding and my rear was still killing me. I tried to lay on that mat but it was impossible. I knew a night on this and I would be in traction at the hospital. I don't know how these people do it. I remembered right outside the door, under the front porch was several hammocks. I put on some bug spray and retired to the hammock. Turns out, the French dude joined close by in the other hammock later on. I have to say I slept well in the hammock, it was cool and breezy. It was soooo quiet there except for the occasional critter some where. I was sound asleep when the rooster announced his presence within a few feet of me and almost made me fall out of the hammock. I took the cold shower and thank goodness did not need to go #2. After a great cup of coffee and some rice porridge for breakfast, I was on my way to the other waterfall.
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Scenery from the Drive
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It was quite a drive but found the next waterfall and it was a bit more popular. You have to walk across this rickety bamboo bridge to get there, and it was swaying and rocking with me and these girls were giggling away at the edge. I made it and the name was in Lao but I took a picture anyway. Spent some time admiring the falls and then headed back to the main road. I guess it was about 10 when I hit the intersection at the end of the loop. From here it was a breeze back. Since I had already run over on the bike, I remember seeing a really big Buddha statue on the side of a mountain overlooking the city. I turned off on the edge of Pakse and went across another long bridge over the Mekong River to see if I could figure out how to get to it. I found a road that looked promising and right away there was a very long, very steep stairway that you could tell was very very old. The road seemed to keep going so I decided to see if this took you to the top. It was a steep climb and at time my bike was struggling to get fat boy up that hill. Sure enough, it was the right toad and I checked out the statue and there was a very nice temple next to it. When you pull up you are looking at the back side of the statue, and to get around front you had to walk this rickity old planks of wood around to the front to take a picture. They need to do something about this.
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| I think this is Tad Soung Waterfall |
I drove back down the hill and returned the bike to Ms Noy. They got a kick out of my story from what they could understand. I think it was around 1pm when I got to the hotel. I answered a couple of quick emails and took a nice hot shower and laid my weary body down for a bit.
The Bolaven Plateau was all that I hoped for and so much more. I would not trade that trip for anything. Iris got me back safe and sound and the people I met on the road were all just so nice. Its times like this that makes all the hard work getting here pay off.
I think I will chill the rest of the day and there is a massage place across from the hotel. I have passed it numerous times and they have a whole wall lined with chairs where you can set and get a foot and neck massage. It sounds heavenly right now but they may charge extra for my horrid feet.
I have another amazing adventure planned for tomorrow, so get the popcorn ready.
Happy Travels,
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