Southern Laos

Trip Start Dec 26, 2007

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep Pakse, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I arrived in Pakse, the south of Laos, early in the morning and, like all bus stations, was surrounded by drivers wanting you to pay for them to take you in to town. Me not knowing what the real price should be and because I'm cheap when I travel, decided to walk in to town, whichever direction "town" might be. It looked like most of the cars were going right, so I went right. I walked for quite a while before I finally came to something that looked like a town. I was in Pakse. This is a good base for anyone who wants to see the southern part of Laos. I stopped in at several different guest houses and finally found one that was a good deal. That day, I decided that I wanted to see the Bolaven Plateau and would rent a motorbike to do it. I met a nice guy from Switzerland, Frank, who had the same idea so we decided to meet up at 9 the next morning.

The next morning, we set off on two 110cc scooters armed with a couple of backpacks, a basic little map, and some water. Our first stop was Tat Fan waterfalls, a couple of waterfalls 120 meters high, the tallest in Laos. They looked really nice from a distance but we couldn't be bothered to hike all the way to the bottom of them. It would have taken several hours to get down and then we would have had to hike back up. We had too much ground to cover. The next stop we made was at some smaller but still very nice waterfall, Tad Nguing. It was a lot easier to get down to the water there and made for a great swim. The plan was to go a lot farther east and spend the night in a small town called Sekong.

Tat Fan waterfall

When we got back on the road, we were making good time until we started feeling a couple of rain drops and saw a huge storm cloud overhead. I pulled Frank over and suggested that we stop in at a small restaurant, get something to eat, and wait out the storm. He agreed and we turn off on to a small road where we saw a sign for a restaurant. We had driven farther than the sign said the restaurant was so I decided to make a quick u-turn and hurry back because by now the rain had started to pick up. In my rear view mirror, I saw Frank on his bike behind me so I slowed down so that I could turn. As I was turning, a guy (about 30 years old), a woman (about 40), and a little girl (4 years old) came speeding by. I didn't have time to stop and they slammed right into the front wheel of my bike. The guy lost control of his bike and they all three went flying off into the grass on the side of the road. I dropped my bike and ran over to where they were to see if they were alright. Everyone was fine except for a couple of scratches. The girl and woman went ahead and went to the local hospital just to make sure everything was alright. Everyone told us to just leave the bikes where they were so that the police could come and make a report. After the initial shock and seeing that everyone was alright, I started thinking about how much this was going to cost me. In the end, the police didn't come because the locals said it was Sunday and there are no police on Sundays. (Note to self, if you want to rob a bank, steal a car, sell some drugs...do it on Sunday).

Tad Nguing waterfall

This is probably a good thing because then the police could have gotten some money for themselves from me if they wanted to. I went to the hospital to check on the little girl and the woman. The bill was 121,000 kip. I gave them 200,000 (25 dollars), we all shook hands, and said our goodbyes. Then Frank and I got the hell out of Dodge or in this case out of Paksong. By the time the whole even was over, I had a broken mirror, hand brake, and spokes on the wheel. The basket was dented but I just bent it back into shape. It wasn't until later that I noticed that the bike was called a Suzuki Crash. If I had seen that before, maybe I would have chosen a different bike. Frank wanted to go back to Pakse. I wasn't going to let that be the end of the trip so we continued on.

It's a good thing we did too because things went so well after that. We had to re-route our plans and instead go off on a dirt road to a town closer by since we wouldn't be able to make our original destination before it got dark. We passed by a lot of small towns with kids playing naked in the trees, pigs and chickens running across the road, and lots of smiles and waving. We got to our destination just before it got dark and were able to find a place to get a shower, something to eat, and a nice bed. The next morning, Frank and I split up and I took a long dirt road back to Pakse. I chose it because I know that everyone else takes the paved road back to town. It was really great to see this part of Laos. As I was riding by, people would stare at me, with a serious look in their eyes not knowing what to think of this white boy who was obviously lost. Then as soon as I would smile and say, "Sabai dee!", their mouths would break open into a huge smile and everyone would wave back. It's a strange but great feeling when you drive by and everyone in a town is staring, pointing, and waving at you.

I came back to Pakse and took the bike back to the girl whom I had rented it from. I told her what happened (well not completely) and told her I would pay for the damages. She was really nice and we went to the local shop to get all of the parts then went to another guy to replace them all. It only took about 45 minutes for everything. That cost me another 230,000 kip (about 29 dollars). So all in all, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Since the bike was fixed and I still had some daylight left, I took off again and drove a little farther south to a UNESCO world heritage site in Chamapasak. It is a temple called Wat Phu. It was built just on the west side of the Mekong River along the side of a mountain where indigenous people had worshipped their local gods even thousands of years earlier. It was nice to see but I must admit it wasn't that impressive.

I just met up with my brother Joe and his friend from Thailand. The plan right now is to go south to the 4 thousand islands in the Mekong River just before the Cambodian border. Plans can always change though.