Luang Nam Tha to Vientiane

You know it’s only after you finish a 24 hours bus journey on a local bus that you remember why, after the last time you took such a trip, you swore never to do one ever again.

I started out on the local mini van from Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai.  Now that wasn’t too bad it was a little crowded and uncomfortable since I was on the wheel arch which cuts down on the leg room.  I’d hate to see a tall person try to squeeze into that seat.  The van would stop for no particular reason that I could see.  One or two people would get off, stand around, have a smoke then eventually get back on the van.  Off we’d trundle for another 20 mins or so if we were lucky and the process would repeat itself.

As I said it wasn’t really all that bad as it was a 4 hour trip, well ok so 4 hours ‘lao time’ which in reality meant about 5 1/2 hours.

Originally I’d meant to stay in Odomxai and hopefully arrange a plane from there to Vientiane then straight on to Pakse the next day as supposedly there were more and bigger planes so your more likely to get a seat than in Luang Nam Tha.  Unfortunately when I got there my luck or lack there of struck again.  The next plane was not until Tuesday.  That meant a minimum of 2 days in Udomxai even if I could get on the plan.

There was a but departing for Vientiane, a night bus, in about 1 hour so I decided to get that instead.  Apart from the lack of sleep they played Lao Karaoke until midnight turned it off for a few hours then turned it back on about 0500.  This was a so called Express bus but it kept stopping to pick up passengers from 0500 hours onwards none of whom paid and the bus quickly became packed.

One of the local woman decided to sit in the seat next to mine with her kid.  Fair enough.  Except like the local males they do not seem to have any concept of my seat, your seat.  She also kept trying to dump her kid on my lap.  If that wasn’t bad enough she started throwing up and the kid followed suit.  I wouldn’t have minded so much if she and the kid had been facing into the isle, but no, they were facing in my direction.

When I got into town about 1000 hours I falked out money for a mid range Guest house and tested the claim of ‘hot water’ before agreeing to take the room.

You know I really, really enjoyed that shower!

Vientiane to Pakse to Don Det

I found the bus station without too much hassle or at least the tuk tuk driver did.

When I got there a man took me to a counter for the VIP Bus took my ticket and gave me another one.  I did not realise until later that the time on it had changed from 2000 hours to 2030 hours and the seat had also changed from 10 to 22.  I went back to the counter and checked to make sure it was still the VIP bus and questioned why the had changed the bus I had booked.

There was no real explanation as to why it all changed but they assured me it was still the VIP bus.  I noticed a few others having the same conversations so let it slide until I could see the bus, after all as long as the bus is comfortable and does not stop every 10 minutes down the road I really do not care.

Thankfully the bus was a comfortable 2 story bus.  I was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to a fat western guy who did not speak a word of english so I had the same problems with him encroaching on my seat and ended up squashed up against the window.  If it wasn’t for him the journey might have been comfortable.

We arrived in Pakse about 0630 and a handful of us sat at a little coffee shop trying to decide what we were going to do.

In the end we all decided to go straight to the islands spend some time there then work our way back to our respective destinations.

A tuk tuk took us to the local bus terminal and we found a sawngthaew, a truck with seats in the back, going to Don Det, or at least to the boat that will take us to Don Det.

The ride was fairly bumpy but no where near the rides up north and a little cramped.  The truck stopped along the way dropping people off and stuffing more people on until the end of the line.  We had to walk the last little bit to where the boats go from but it only took about 5 mins.  There was a little bit of muttering from some particularly since they had been diverting well of the road down minor roads only to have to backtrack to the main road after to drop the locals off at their door steps.

We found a boat that left straight away for Don Det but still arrived in the late afternoon which made it a little hard to find accommodation.  Ended up at the most expensive place for the night as it was already getting dark and none of us wanted to walk around in the dark with our packs, there is no electricity in Don Det and except for a few bigger places that have generators there are no lights.

The evening was relaxed and spent at one of the restaurants \ bars at the waters edge, lets face it Don Det is an island and a fairly small one so just about everything is at the waters edge!

Don Det

I slept well last night not waking until or at least not looking at my watch until 0730.  It was hard to tell the time because the room was pitch black.

After breakfast a group of us traipsed off to find accommodation.  While this place is nice it really is a little overpriced for what it is.  Basically they are charging $10 because the room is being fixed up for when Don Det gets electricity.  Fair enough but they seem to be charging for the hot water they don’t have, the fan that doesn’t work and the light bulb with no electricity to run it.  Personally charging $10 just so I can have the privilege of looking at these wonderful features that may work one day is a bit much.

Ended up at the Mr Si Dae Bungalows.  They are thatched and right on the river with little balconies with hammocks.  The shower and toilet are shared.  They really have seen better days.  The cost is $1.  The family does not have much and they looked very happy to suddenly have 5 guests where before they had none.

They have a little restaurant attached with a pool table.  The restaurant is funny because you ask for something on the menu, which they assure you they have then they hop on their motorbike or send one of the kids running off only to return with a bag with the eggs or noodles, rice, basically the ingredients that they needed to cook the food you ordered.

It may take some time that way but at least the food is fresh and they are very obliging.

We hired some bikes in the afternoon and went riding out to the waterfalls.  The road was flat and it only took about 30 mins to get there.  Still the road was a little rough with rocks and pot holes in true Lao style.

When we arrived at the falls a bunch of Thai ladies wanted their photo taken with us.  Very weird and funny with flashbacks to India where the same occurred.

When we walked through the gates the man checked our ticket then charged us 2000 kip parking fee for the bikes!  We were laughing about that one figuring that he’d found himself a nice little money earner!

The falls were quite big and spread out but mostly flat….. if that makes sense.  Still worth the ride to see.

Don Det

Did not really do much today.  Don Det is just one of those type places.  Relaxed in the hammock, read, talked.  Used up some energy pushing off the balcony to set the hammock swinging.  That is about it, some how the day past by.

I booked a ticket to leave Don Det tomorrow to Champasak and the ruins on my way back up to Vientiane.

Malia, Jai and Rachael also booked tickets though Christophe is staying put.

The group of us went to the sunset restaurant for dinner that night and watched the sunset as the name implies for a final night on the island.

Over all I liked this place, it is very relaxed and certainly not as odd as Vang Vieng.

Don Det to Champasak

I got up this morning to watch the sun rise at 0500.  I was awake anyway so I figured I might as well since one of the guys said it was quite beautiful.

Jai was right it was well worth getting up to see.  I must admit I did go back to bed for a few hours afterwards.  Still watching the sun rise over the river, the fisherman push their boats out to try their luck, the animals heading down to the waters edge to drink and play was relaxing in it’s own way.

After checking out about 1100 hours we headed down to where the boats land.

The brief ride in the boat was over quite easily and was quite uneventful.  A minibus took us a couple of hours down the road where we caught a ferry across the river. 

By ferry I mean 3 boats covered by a decking.  The contraption even carries cars!

We stayed in the first guesthouse we came across.  Thankfully a good one with clean rooms and hot water.  My bathroom even steamed up for the very first time.