Real motorcycle diaries

Trip Start Mar 10, 2007

153

Trip End ??? ??, 2007

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Where I stayed

Tad Fane Resort

(Pakse hotels)

Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep Pakse, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Pakse is the city in the south of Laos that everybody uses generally as their base for exploring the bolaven plateau. It also has something of a stigma attached to it as travelers seem to tout it as one of the most horrible places on earth, that you must get out of as soon as possible. I liked it. Its a lazy town, there's little to do there, but it has a nice relaxed atmosphere and the french colonial buildings make it a pleasant place to wander around.
Spent the first full day on a day trip with Leona and Keira to Wat Phu Champasak, after checking out the huge talat dao Muang (morning market). This was inevitably just like any other south east Asian market, though very very big. We did try these strange pod things that you see people eating here though; they look a little like giant poppies, and you take out the seeds and dis guard the rest. I wasn't too keen on them (not that that stopped me eating them) and we later discovered we had been sold a bad batch (curse you old Lao woman)

us at wat phu

. On the ferry crossing to the island where the temple is located, we again got mobbed by women and kids selling all sorts of food, and i saw one of the cutest children i have seen soo far; i was seriously contemplating putting her in my rucksack and bringing her home.
Wat Phu Champasak is the most important religious building in Laos, gaining world heritage status in 2001. It is believed that they started building between the 6th and 8th centuries and finished towards the 9th and 13th centuries. Considering its importance, those dates strike me as exceptionally vague, don't you think? It is a former royal palace and a truly beautiful place. I had been told by several people 'if you have seen Angkor you will be disappointed' as it is architecture from the same style and period. This is rubbish. The grounds this place is set in and the multi-tiered structure of the temple make for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
In the evening we went to the local wat in Pakse, where we believed we could do some English teaching. However when we got there we found out that the teaching wasn't on for another month due to exams or something, but we did have a chat with the monk, who taught us a lot. He worked in conjunction with UNICEF, helping people with AIDS and other problems. I learnt much about the different types of Buddhism, and heres some learning for you all. He was a Theravada Buddhist, and as such he has 227 commandments or rules he must follow

crocodile stone

. He explained that he can only eat before 11 am, whereas a Mahayana Buddhist can eat at any time in the day. Theravada Buddhists are also not allowed to cook, hence the process of giving alms to monks, whereas i believe Mahayana Buddhists can.
   In the evening we all had a few drinks then went on a tiger whisky binge in our room, whilst playing shithead. Next day i was gonna begin motorbiking round the bolavean plateau, but due to the whisky and the ridiculous amount of fruit i had been eating, my bowels were terrible, so i had a lazy day and saw off the girls before starting my biking the following day. Notable occurrence for the day was that i actually had a bowl of ice cream! As pathetic as that sounds, anyone who knows me well will know how often that happens, so i was pretty pleased about that.
      Rented out my first motorbike with gears the following day, and after a brief bit of practice around town, i departed for Tad Fane waterfall, the main waterfall everyone sees in this area.
      The Bolaven plateau is famous for its cooler climate and abundance of coffee plantations and fertile soil. Several other products are grown here and are considered to be of very highest quality (the village of Paksong is famous for its coffee for example). There are also several different ethnic groups centered in this region

elephant stone

. All in all, these 'attractions' make it a fascinating area, hence why it is 'the done thing' for tourists to rent a bike and tour around here for a few days. If everyone else is doing it, why can't i?
Waterfalls feature strongly throughout this region, and by the end of my time in the plateau i would have seen more falls than you can shake a stick at! The first one i took in was Tad E-tu. I won't bother trying to describe all the waterfalls to you, as it will just sound the same for them all, but I'll try and upload and label the photos so you can look for yourself. Onto Tham Champy Falls next, just across the road from the famous Tad fane. I really liked this waterfall, and there was even a little pool at the bottom where one could swim if one desired (one did not desire in this case). On the way back up to the main road i took my first tumble on the bike, forgetting the fact that you can't turn wet muddy corners like you can tarmacked ones. Thankfully i was going very very slowly and the only damage done was to my pride (and my coccis, i fell flat on my arse!).
Tad Fane is amazing, truly worthy of the praise the guidebooks lavish upon it. At 120m+ it is huge,and can only really be viewed from a distance on the opposite site of the water at Tad Fane resort. Next stop after noodle soup lunch was Tad Yueang waterfall, just outside of Paksong, where i headed to next

view from the phu

. Had one of my most enjoyable excursions whilst in paksong; i went down this dirt road that lead to Kaysone village, and although i didn't go far enough to get to the village, as it was 14km down the road, the severely poor road and the general friendliness of the local people and their surprise at seeing me attempt this road made it one of the highlights of my motorbiking.
Paksong itself is pretty small, there's nothing much there and the guidebooks tout it as having a market that'll keep you interested for an hour or so, more so if your into coffee. Rubbish. The market is one of the smallest Asian markets I've been to, and i didn't see any sign of coffee there whatsoever. I'm very glad i made the decision (against advice I'd been given) to stay in Parks instead.
       Made the detour to Phaxuam waterfall on the way back to Pakse, and I'm glad i did, this waterfall is really quite pleasant and they know it. They have set up a fancy tourist orientated resort and restaurant there, detracting from the place a little but its still very nice.
      Stopped at a petrol station outside of Pakse and comically, whether through exhaustion or just general idiocy I'm not sure, brought the bike to a halt then felt it begin to topple sideways, and just let it. However, not content with looking stupid having dropped my bike, i wanted to go one step further, and toppled with my bike, so i literally pulled up to the petrol pumps, and fell to the side, still legs either side of t he bike, onto the floor. The attendant thought i was drink driving! Not quite sure what happened to be honest, i think i was truly exhausted as my brain just seemed to switch off. Was damn funny in retrospect though.
     So that was day one of biking done, and the next day i got the bus to tadlo, where i wanted to base myself for the rest of my biking.