Kingfisher Ecolodge Champasak

... br>
The next day, we sampled some local coffee with our breakfast (which was really nice – we’re back to strong, sweet coffee) then moved hotels (the first one smelt of sewage – not a great recommendation from the LP!). We hired a moped and drove the 40-odd kilometers to Laos’ coffee capital, Paksong. Not much to look at (although we had a great lunch at the market) but we did ...

31st October - bus trip Thakhek - Pakse

This day turned out to be a loooong one. I wanted to do the 6-7 hour bus ride south, from Thakhek to Pakse. Some locals had told Ilse and me that buses started running in that direction early morning. But when I got to the station at 8.30 a.m. (3 km and an expensive tuk-tuk ride out of town) I discovered, just as Ilse who was already there, that the first bus was at 10.30. Pfff.

Filling time
We filled our ...

... to jump off as the tires slid out from the under the bike. Kevin landed on his bum and had a big ol’ bruise for the next few days. Lesson learned.

Back in Pakse we enjoyed hot showers. The next day our bus to Vientiane didn’t leave until the evening so we had all day to fill. Like I said before, Pakse wasn’t the most exciting town, so, we found a café and read books for a long time. It was nice ...

... with my hand, hiring motorbikes wasn’t an option, so we cut our losses and decided to head to our next destination. We were a little disappointed, however we were quite philosophical as you can’t travel for such a long time and expect each stage of the journey to go perfectly.

Here are the photos.

Next stop, 4000 Islands near the Cambodian border.

got slow boat to Champasak. Only for hard-core boaters like ourselves as more pricey than the bus but infinitely nicer. Met a fellow hard-corer - Gord who had been on the slowboat to Luang Prabang! We hired bikes here and cycled through the town to the ancient city which looked identical to the town! and onto Wat Phou, premier South Laos tourist attraction. This isn't saying a great deal, as its more about being here than ...

... a veritable life of simplicity. I wasn't so sure. Even she contradicted herself later, once more of the locals got the better of her
Seeing she wanted to snap some photos and eager for her attention, several kids, including their mother, crowded round her. Looking remarkably content, I pointed out that Western kids aren't nearly so well behaved.
'They're selfish. It makes them want more, and so become more indulgent and discontent.'
(I've ...

... over Thailand before re-crossing the Mekong and landing here. A surprise was in store for me - I am to catch a boat downstream from Pakse to Champassak, which was a very pleasant 2 hours on the Mekong. It's hazy again but beautiful weather and there are low mountains on all sides so it's very attractive. Arriving in Champassak we stopped for Lao tea (and free banana) then straight on to the main sight round here - Wat Pho. This is a Champa pre-Angkorian Hindu temple which ...

After arriving in Pakse we caught a tuk tuk to the southern bus station and then caught a very crowded bus, ferry and tuk tuk to Champasak. Tiley had a traumatic journey stuffed right in the back under bags of rice, Laos people and being pecked on the feet by chickens, I was equally squashed on the ...

After our over night bus ride to Pakse, we decided to travel a bit outside of the city and chose a small town on the opposite side of the Mekong. The only way to get there is by river boat taxi. All the houses are on stilts and the view for the the guest houses is the river filled to the brim swiftly passing, dotted with plants, trees and god knows what else racing towards the sea. I wanted to see the ruins ...