Ah but this land is beautiful

  Pakse, Champasak, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Saturday, October 25, 2008

1. Sunrise in the Restaurant at Champasak

Given that our Vietnam Visa was originally issued for the 20th of the month, and we were now eating into our time there, we decided we needed to make our way towards the border. Our first stop on the trip was to Champasak, about 2 hours north of the 4 000 islands, and boasting the best Khmer ruins outside Cambodia.

We got very lucky, being taken to the ferry point, getting across for 10 000 Kip (as we only had 20 000 on us) and had a tuk-tuk driver transport us to his guesthouse for free - if we stayed there. As it was cheap, clean, on the Mekong and the owner could speak English we decided we had a winner! Poor Matt, the Englishman we had gone Kayaking with, was not so lucky! He got a separate bus, dropping him 5 km from the ferry, had to hitch a ride on a moped, and then walk about 1.5km with his backpack in 30+ degree heat to find a guesthouse. We met up with him later, and over a good meal (with decent portions) discussed a plan for the following day.

At 06h30 the 3 of us and a pair of Czech/Slovak women made the tuk-tuk journey to Wat Phu Champasak. You

6. Looking back Down

wouldn't be blamed for having never heard of it as we were clueless until absorbing most of the Lonely Planet Laos book. From what other people at our guesthouse said, it didn't compare with Angkor Wat, but as we are yet to go there we were impressed! It is 1.4 km long ascending up to the main temple, which was originally a Hindu temple to the goddess Shiva, but is now used as a Buddhist Temple.

We got there before it had opened, payed a nominal 'over-time' fee and got to wander the ancient ruins alone, with a few locals setting up for the day towards the end! Being the early birds, we managed to catch the first worm, and got the last Sangthaew back to Pakse - saving us numerous transport hassles and quite a bit of money! It also meant we had the day to see Pakse and try plan things out.

Firstly, we found a guesthouse but felt there was no real value for money - getting fussy the longer we stay here! Our room felt more like an oven than the general ambient temperature outside. Our second plan was to find a trip for the next day, agreeing on a 1 day Bolaven Plateau trip. In hindsight this was a great idea - although we did have a little foresight through Matt who had done the trip the week before! We finally went to go have a coffee - which actually turned into dinner with Matt, and the two women who 'did' the temple with us in the morning.

10 Trekking through the Jungle

The next day, at the late hour of 08h30 (Kirsty's current body alarm seems set on 5am) we left for a tour of this highland area and gratefully some cooler weather. We first stopped at a tea plantation to sample the local green tea and then headed to a coffee plantation for an explanation of how it is grown, along with the history of Bolaven coffee. Evidently when the French first arrived in Laos they tried growing coffee in 2 other regions which both failed. In 1912 they discovered that the Bolaven Plateau had the perfect climate for coffee growing and it has been the major industry for this region ever since. We later got to sample some Arabica coffee at a shop run by an extremely coffee passionate Dutchman, and after 2 months in the coffee wilderness felt like we were in heaven, though that might have been the high levels of caffeine coursing through our veins!

Our day also involved a trip to 4 beautiful waterfalls, a steep and slippery 2 hour hike, and a visit to a very tourist set-up ethnic village. Ethno-tourism is big here and it doesn't really sit comfortably with us as we feel antiquated practises that were dying out are revived purely for tourist dollars. We spent a pleasant evening eating pasta with Matt, Els and Sproekel (who we met at our guest house in Luang Prabang and then went with to the Bolaven Plateau) and then bumped into Jenny and Scott who we had gone to the cave with. I guess the Southern Laos back packer scene is quite small!

Our last full day in Laos was spent getting to Attapeu (another 5 hour bus ride), from where we hoped to find a bus to Vietnam the following day. The drive there was magnificent with us travelling through the Bolaven Plateua proper and then winding our way down the otherside. The Plateau itself is quite cool with coniferous forests and low lying bushes. Attapeu is mostly a Vietnamese settlement and there is apparently only one English speaker in the village. Mike was a wonder walking down the road! Every kid stopped to stare, often long after we had passed and at least three people came up to compare their heights with him! The kids are obviously being taught English and two sentences followed us everywhere - "Hello" and "How are you?" No other response would be forthcoming.

14. Sunset on Laos

Having spent longer in Laos than we intended to it is only fair to reflect and try work out what kept us there. Laos is an absolutely incredible place that obviously surpassed all of our expectations! As the Lonely Planet says, it is 75% jungle, I have to assume the other 25% is made up of Rice paddies, roads and towns or finally Water. It is currently standing on a bit of a precipice as tourism is definitely starting to boom (there were far more tourists here than we were expecting with most places except for Attapeu having English menus), which if not handled correctly has the potential to ruin its charm and, more worryingly, its beauty. Hopefully they will learn from the mistakes of their neighbours. It is a land of incredible natural beauty and diversity. Don't go expecting to get anywhere fast, but most places are reached reasonably easily. The people are incredible. They are very relaxed and smiling from the girls cycling straight-backed in long skirts holding an umbrella, to the old betel nut chewing weaver, to the bus driver and street vendors.