TravelStream™ news feed for member bass_ke on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bass_ke en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:46:09 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258556932/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258556932/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258556932/tpod.html Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:46:09 -0500 Into the less visited lands 09

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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Today was also spent trying to recover and rest up for the bust journey ahead, see a pattern developing here?

We had the most awesome breakfast in the world at JoMa cafe, a small franchise with a branch in Luang Prabang as well, everything about it was perfect and I was glad to be finally getting my appetite back.

We had a quick walk around the back streets of Vientiane, the city seems to be well and truly gearing up for their role of hosting the SE Asian games this year, lot's of flags and signs about everywhere for it.

Vientiane has turned into one of those cities that you just need to sit down and soak up, so apart from changing some Kip into USD's that's exactly what the rest of the day was spent doing, including eyeing off some of the awesome bikes available for rent near JoMa from Jules Bike Rentals, I think next time we are back in the region we'll be definitely trying to hit up the country on bikes.

The bus up to Phonsavan was as expected, horrendous. Probably the worst bus we've caught overnight anywhere in the region, there was no chance to sleep as we were definately on the road of a million turns, the 2Am curry stop at some random town in the middle of nowhere wasn't bad though!

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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

We got into Vientiane early, 0600 early and arrived into torrential rain, just wading out in the ankle deep water to get our bags out of the bus was an effort.

We hung around the bus station for about an hour waiting for the rain to bugger off and for some guesthouses to open in the city so we could find somewhere to stay. On our way into the city we saw monks out collecting alms in the rain, these guys have commitment! I truly felt sorry for the barefoot men traipsing around in the water, good to see that people were still out to make offerings though.

We managed to find a room very near the guesthouse we stayed in last year in Vientiane and after checking in went down to a new cafe on the corner and grabbed some breakfast. It was good just to take in the old street we frequented last year and people watch. Some things are the same but some have changed drastically, the whole city has a different feel about it and cafes seem to be springing up everywhere, it is still sleepy for a SE Asian capital though.

The day was largely dominated by wanting to eat the awesome food on offer but struggling to keep it down due to our sickness, we managed to grab a feed at a good Tex-Mex restaurant we made it to last year and book some bus tickets up to Phonsavan before retiring for the night. Unfortunately the bus was another overnight bus, getting very tired of these things!

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Savannakhet, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Tonight was sure to be entertaining, but first we had some stuff to see in the day

We went and met our driver Mr Mon who speaks a little bit of English at about 1100 and started to head up the , after seeing yet another Tea Plantation and checking out a Coffee Plantation we checked out the falls at Tad Fane and Tad Lo.

It was cool to be there when we were as most of the big tourist buses seem to be having lunch or doing other things and we had most of them to ourselves.

Sorry for the lack of detail about the falls but as we were both still quite sick my memory isn't great, you'll just have to wait for the pictures!

After getting back from the Plateau we got a day room back at the Pakse hotel in preparation for the good old sleeper bus we were catching that night. It was entertaining but I don't think it's something that we'll hurry out to do again, the beds were about 5 foot long, I'm 6 foot 2, do the math! Although with the contortion act I pulled of I actually managed to get more sleep than I would on a standard overnight bus, trying to deal with a tummy bug in those conditions is another story!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258293615/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258293615/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258293615/tpod.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:06:06 -0500 Into the less visited lands 09

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Pakse, Champasak, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Today the only things achieved were a quick run down to the pharmacy to pick up some more Anti-Biotics and organise a bit of a tour around the Bolaven Plateau for tommorrow.

We managed to get a driver to ourselves for the same price as a day trip with a group normally costs, added advantages were we got to cut out heaps of the rubbish from the trip and decide on the start time. We also booked our tickets out of Pakse on the Infamous Pakse - Vientiane sleeper bus.
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Pakse, Champasak, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

It had to happen eventually, this my friends is a lesson as to why you stick with street vendors

Our ride from the Island to Pakse went very vey smoothly and we were back to our friends in the Pakse hotel in no time, we planned to stay here for a couple of days in the hope that Bec's chest infection would clear up and then we'd move on.

Things are going pretty good, we head back up to a cafe we visited when we were here last and grab a couple of coffees and some Carbonara because it look's so damn good! Bec fills up on the pasta and nice Bacon bit's in hers but leaves the Ham, smart girl.

I on the other hand eat my entire bowl and then eat all her ham, this was the biggest mistake I've made for a long long time, let's just say the lovely dinner we got from the restauraunt back at the Pakse hotel did not stay down long at all, I was in and out of the bathroom all night long, just as well we are staying in Pakse for a little while
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258120789/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258120789/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1258120789/tpod.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:31:29 -0500 Into the less visited lands 09

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Dondet, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Today we perfected the art of staying on Don Dhet, stay on the sunset side until about noon, and when the hot hot sun starts to come back over go and sit down and do nothing in a restaurant for the rest of the afternoon.

The morning was simple, we took a quick stroll down to near the bottom of the island and checked out some of the old French loading docks, Don Dhet and the island just below it Don Khon are in the middle of the falls/rapids in the Mekong so French cargo vessels would unload on Don Dhet, and then a train would take the cargo over a bridge to Don Khon on the otherside of the rapids and load the cargo back onto a waiting boat.

Life in Don Dhet is really about the relaxation so as stated above the rest of the day up til 1300 was spent relaxing in a hammock reading books and the rest of the day up until about 1700 was spent in the crazy Australians bakery eating some of the best donuts ever made.

We went around to a place that used to be known as Noy's guesthouse for dinner, it's in a prime spot right on the North Western edge of the Island and has mad sunset views, we spent a bit of time talking with the Belgian owner who does indeed serve the coldest beer on the Island.

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Dondet, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

This morning had potential to suck really bad, but somehow it all worked out like it always seems to.

We were heading to the 4000 Islands (Don Dhet) bright and early, the bus was coming to get us at 0745 so we decided we'd get up at 0600 get ready, go for a walk to the very close ATM (Pay day today and no ATM's on the island) and have time for breakfast before the bus comes to collect us, it didn't quite happen that way.

We were happily strolling to the ATM up the road, chucked the card in, the ATM thought for about 5 minutes and then decided it wasn't going to cough up any cash, damn!

Not to worry I think as I spotted and ANZ atm just up the road as we were getting driven into town, 5 minutes turns into 45 and metres into kilometres, I had gravely misjudged where this bloody ATM was, the only thing that made it worth the trek was the security guard that stood and saluted us when we got to the ATM, saluting our foolishness at walking over 2k's up a main rd during peak hour, I forgot to mention Bec got stacked into by a scooter on the way as well, although I think the 2 young girls riding were more frightened than us!

Anyway, we got the money 2 Million Kip, yep officially Millionaires! but I look down at my watch to see that it's 0715, it looked like we were missing out on breakfast until one of the crazy Pakse style Tuk-Tuk's rocked up. These things are not your standard Tuk-Tuk no where near as sane as a Thai Tuk-Tuk, even loopier than the Cambodian trailer towed by a motorbikes style Tuk-Tuk. The Pakse variation consists of a Small Japanese sports bike with a wooden side car attached, the side car has a raised bench with an 18th century style coach shade over the top.

We were convinced both of us wouldn't fit, but sure enough with Bec on the Sidecart type contraption and myself on the bike behind the rider we fit, it was a good fun ride, nothing can beat being on a bike helmetless.

Anyway, after old mate dropped us off at the hotel we got to scoff down our free breakfast right as the bus came to collect us, perfect timing!

Travelling on the bus was a British/Swiss couple who we had previously spoken with at Ubon Rachathani train station, before we ended up catching a ride straight out to the border we were going to catch a bus with these guys, just as well we didn't. We only payed 100 Baht extra in total and had a smooth experience, theirs took all day and the guy didn't even get a seat the whole way.

The bus ride down was uneventful, the boat ride was a bit more fun. The boatman parked pretty stupidly but we didn't mind, just meant we got wet upto our knees instead of our ankles, I got out first and started to unload our packs as Bec was getting out of the boat, I got my pack on my back as the boat started to drift and Bec's pack started rolling off the boat, I managed to chuck my pack up onto the sand and rescue Becs pack but now the boat had started to drift off, I managed to grab onto it as the boatman came out and wrestled it back onto shore, fun fun!

After all that we went trapzing of to the Sunset side of the island and found some Bungalows right on the river that we trekked through a farmyard to get to. They are simple thatched things but for $2 a night who cares

We managed to find a crazed Aussie baker working and living on the island, he appears to have been on the Island for years, but all the same it was good to speak to an Aussie and he makes bloody good donuts!

Most of the rest of the evening was spent hanging in our hammocks over the mekong and watching the sun smoulder into some mountains in Cambodia, the border being just on the otherside of the river.



]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257947954/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257947954/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257947954/tpod.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:08:58 -0500 Into the less visited lands 09

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Pakse, Champasak, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Today was another day spent doing what we do best in Laos, Relaxing

Pakse is a pretty sedate little town, but when the sun is upon you it is hot hot hot!

We found our way up to Delta Coffee today, I'd almost class it as some of the best coffee I've ever tried, this cafe has it's own plantation about 50 k's away up on the Plateau, they also make some bloody good Italian style food!

Afterwards a leisurely stroll down to the local bus arranger kinda guy sort out our tickets down to 4000 Islands and that is all that was achieved today

Laos has that kind of affect on a person

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Pakse, Champasak, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Today could of been hellish, but turned out pretty well!

The train rolled in about 3 hours late as is usual with trains in Se Asia, once getting off the train we walked past all the usual touts and fixers and straight to some other people we saw hanging around with backpacks, they were all heading in the same direction and we managed to get 2 seats in a 4WD heading out to the border 1 hour away.

The drive out was pretty easy going and surprisingly no fixers/touts were hanging around once we got there, just a stack of petrol trucks waiting to get accross. Exiting the Thai side was pain free and form there it was only a 50M walk to Laos's tiny Immigration building. We already had Visa's sorted this time so they couldn't scam any money out of us that way but inflation must of hit hard as the "Stamping Fee" has went from 5 Baht to 50 Baht.

We managed to share a ride the 50K's into Pakse with the same guy's we shared with to the border and got in to town at about 1200, right in the heat of the day.

As Bec picked up a cold from a Slovenian on the Bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and I was also feeling pretty run down we decided to splurge and spend $23 on the next two nights accommodation in Pakse to give us a bit of a chance to recover. The Pakse hotel is pretty nice and has a mad open air restaurant on the 8th floor which is also reasonably priced.

Tomorrow we need to sort out how to get to Champasak the next day

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257785605/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257785605/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bass_ke/3/1257785605/tpod.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:03:57 -0500 Into the less visited lands 09

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Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

How fun today ended up being, it was supposed to be a quiet day of checking out MBK Shopping center and then a chilled train road in a 1st Class cabin to Ubon Ratchathani.

The shopping part was pretty uneventful, just 7 stories of crazed shopping with a 1 whole story dedicated to iPhone copies, I must admit I felt pretty special walking around with a genuine one in my pocket. That brings me to another thing, I think I must be the only person that keeps their wallet and passport in their pocket anymore, it really seems to be the least obvious place to have them now with the stupid amount of bum bags, fanny packs and really badly concealed neck wallets that people are getting around with here, funny though.

We had another awesome coffee at Moka and a pretty filling dinner along with a few Changs to finish up our time in bangkok. The taxi ride to the train station was another uneventful one.

Whilst waiting for our train we met a really cool guy from Radelaide called Barney, in true Aussie spirit the first thing he thought of doing after getting retrenched was going out travelling which he had been doing for a few months thus far. He's also writing a book full of memoirs from the road which I'm looking very forward to checking out!

After finishing up talking to Barney it was time for Jerry Bruckheimers Amazing Race. We had been allocated a cabin in Car 13 so we walk up to the platform and find Car 13, look in the window and see only 2nd class sleepers aboard, don't get me wrong 2nd class aint at all bad but we had payed about 800 Baht more for first as we wanted some space to chuck our bags down and reorganise a tad, the shower is always nice as well.

Anyway, we climb aboard and ask the guard if their is another car 13 on board, he has a giggle and says no. It's ok, not really a big deal and we'd try and get the money back once we got to Ubon Ratchathani.

Just as Bec and I are settling into our seats a Thai Woman with a crazed look in her eyes approached us asking if we had booked 1st class as well, I answered yes and she dragged me out of my seat to follow her. Turns out that she and her hubby had booked 1st class as well and had been stooged, but she wasn't having a part of it and was determined to get us our money back, it helped that she spoke the language!

After watching her verbally assualt the chief guard just before the train was supposed to leave we went for a run over the platform and back in to the station, as Bec was still on the train with our bags I had one eye on what was happening in the station and one on the train, prepared like they do in an action film to run up the platform and jump onto the moving carriage, Indiana Jones music playing and all.

The Thai lady seeing my concern told me that the guy we were with was the Chief Guard and that the train couldn't leave without him. We get our money back surprisingly easy, I basically just stood there and got handed 800 Baht. We ran back to the train just as it started to move. I thanked the lady heaps, the money would certainly help out.

Bec and I spent most of the night snacking on all the random crap that we picked up from 7/11 and spent a bit of time chatting with the crazy Thai lady as she dropped in on us everytime she walked past, the entertainment made up for the missing 1st class sleeper.

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