Hey All,
Well, pretty much had another WOW day yesterday. This area of Laos is just blowing me away with the incredible scenery and daily life. I could easily come back and spend another week in this area. I am regretting not asking for another 5 days of vacation.
I tried to get the blog out last night, but was so exhausted after a long day. The past few days the heat and humidity have been BRUTAL. I think I have lost 10 lbs in sweat. You really do have to pace yourself and allow for a sit down in a shady spot or you will not make it. I travel with these tablets that you add to a bottle of water, the are full of electrolytes and turns your water into gatoraide. Those have been a life saver I think, as they really do make a difference.
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| Highway to Southern Laos |
Yesterday I went to an area in the very southern part of Laos known as Si Phan Don, or the 4,000 Islands. Its just north of the Cambodian Borders by a few Km's. Saturday afternoon after returning from the Bolaven Plateau, I talked to the nice people at the desk and inquired about a car to drive me down there Sunday. Its a good 2 hour drive in a car, and since I had already gone an extra day to the Plateau, I decided to try to do this in 1 day. It would have been brutal on a bike, and throw in the heat. They easily set me up with a car and English speaking driver and he was set to pick me up at 8 am.
The drive down was once again very scenic, with little villages, lots of rice fields. They are just starting to harvest the rice now that the rainy season seems to be over. Speaking of that, this is my 4th trip during this time of year and every time the rainy season stops while I am here. Its so funny how its like the skies just turns the handle and it stops. All that rain I was experiencing early in the trip is gone and they say it will not rain again for many months. It will be interesting to see if that holds up as I move back into Thailand.
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| Rice fields about ready for harvest - excuse my finger in the picture again |
Back to the trip, the driver was great and would stop for me when I asked, a couple of times to inquire about things they were selling on the side of the road. At one place they were selling lotus fruit which I have never seen before. It was interesting as you peeled these little round seeds out of the plant, then had to peel the skin off the seed, it had a sweet flavor, very nice. Also stopped to get a bamboo stick filled with sticky rice and coconut milk. Its filled, then put next to a fire to cook, then you peel the bamboo back and eat the cooked rice in the middle. Its very delicious, lightly sweet and you may remember me getting this in Cambodia. Along the way I was getting a chuckle with some houses and businesses that had these wild paint colors. One was very lime green, another was neon orange and my fave was a couple of buildings in Pepto Pink, one being a hotel. I guess someone was running a sale on outrageous paint colors they could not sell.
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| Lotus Fruit |
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| Boat Trip Down the Mekong through 4000 Islands |
After a bit over 2 hours we arrived in a small village and drove to a boat dock. From here we took a long tail boat for about 40 minutes down the Mekong River. This is where I was glad to have to driver go with me, as I would have been lost by this point. I can see why they call it the 4000 Islands now, as they are everywhere, mostly very small, but there none the less. We got to an area where the shore was lined with small bungalows, restaurants and such on the waters edge, and even over hanging the water. I asked and he stated it was Don Det island, one of the few larger ones. This was for many years a hidden backpacker paradise where people would spend weeks on end drinking at night and sleeping in a hammock by day. Our stop was at Don Khone which is the next island over. We stopped at a dock, where I almost fell in the water getting out of the boat, I am such a dufus. When we got off, we walked to the dirt path they use for a street and here you could get a bicycle, but not in this heat for me, so we got a sidecar tuk tuk. He transported us to an area on the far side of the island and I could hear a waterfall as we got out of the sidecar. You had to pay 35000 Kip as a foreigner to enter and the ticket stated it was the Don Khone Somphamit Waterfall Park. You walked over a few wooden bridges and down this bamboo covered path to this real rocky area where the falls were. WOW, they were impressive, much more than any from the other day in my book. I meandered about, climbing on the sharp rocks as best I could to get a nice view. They ought to build some kind of wooden platform to make it easier. At one point I slipped and fell on the rocks, and got a nice raspberry just below my knee. Thank goodness I did not break anything, and thank you nobody else was there to witness it - lol. After viewing a bit we walked back to the tuk tuk and made our way back to the village area. It was full of guesthouses and small restaurants. What a cool place to spend a few days relaxing. It was about noon by this time so we decided to eat at one of the places along the river.
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| Don Khone Somphamit Waterfall |
Right next to us was the old Rail Bridge I had read about. It was built in 1905 by the French who also built a 6 km rail line across 2 islands. The bridge actually connects the islands of Don Det with Don Khone. At the turn of the century the French were taking lumber and other supplies out of Laos and shipping it down the Mekong, but the falls was impassable by boat, so they would unload the goods at a dock, load them onto a train for the 6 km trip to bypass the falls to another boat at the other end. Seems like a lot of work to me - lol. But today, the bridge is still here and used to get from island to island.
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| French Rail Bridge |
Don Det is considered the low cost island area to stay, with really cheap guesthouses and bungalows, while Don Khone has some nicer bungalows with a/c and such. Either was its still all very cheap. Close by was a really old run down building the driver told me was the old French Customs House. I had Chicken with ginger and rice for lunch and it was really good. I managed to find a fan to sit under and it made it all the better.
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| Chicken with Ginger and Rice |
After lunch we went back to the boat, rode along the river some more, then went back to the car. We drove a bit further and made another cutoff to another small village area. At the end was this building with road blocks and you had to pay again to enter. The ticket here was 55000 kip and the ticket said it was for the Khonephapheng Waterfall Park. You walked up to a lady to buy the ticket, then walked 4 feet to another lady who looked at it, punched a hole in it and then tore a stub off. Why they could not do this 4 feet away with the same person is beyond me, as I was the only person in sight. You walked by a Temple and I took off my shoes to see what it was about, and inside this huge glass case was a tree with stump. People were leaving offerings and such to this so I had to find out what this was about. My driver said it was considered a sacred tree that was in the river but died, so they removed it and built a temple so people could worship the tree. Interesting.
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| Tree in Glass at Temple |
After passing the temple you board an electric cart for the drive to the waterfall. The driver said it was the Niagara of Asia, and while impressive it was no Niagara. Spent a while here and walked around the park for a nice stroll in the shade.
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| Khonephapheng Waterfall |
By this time it was past 3 so we started to head back to Pakse. It was a great trip and like I said the waterfalls, the islands, the scenery, the boat trip was all so amazing. I would like to come back here some day and spend a few days on the islands as there is a lot to see I did not have time for.
When we got back to the hotel, I walked down to the main street to a travel agent and bought a VIP bus ticket for Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand for the next day. They had an 8 am and 3 pm, so I chose the 3 pm to give me some free time this AM. Using most of it to for the blog as I was much to exhausted to do last night. Its about a 3 hour trip I think with about a half hour stop at the border to go through the immigration process again in reverse. I splurged and got the $10 VIP bus for the nice comfy seats.
I would not have minded spending another day here in Pakse, but I also got an email from a couple of friends who will be in Bangkok at the end of the week. About 7 years ago, when I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia, visiting Angkor, I was met a couple from Kuala Lumpur. He is Australian and she is Malaysian, and we had dinner a few times and discussed travels. They convince me to make a future trip to Southern Cambodia which I did a few years later. We have been email friends since then and they follow my blog. Turns out they are in Bangkok for a week and wanted me to spend Friday with them seeing a few hidden non-touristy places I have not seen. I had originally planed on flying to Bangkok on Friday night for my Saturday flight home, but I guess I will go Thursday night now. I want 2 full days in Ubon Ratchathani so needed to leave today to make that happen. Its good to keep your schedule flexible.
Well, I have to get packed and check out by noon, so need to get busy.
Happy Travels,
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