Back in familiar territory again on the banks of the Mekong River but in a more upmarket hotel than our last visit to Vientiane, similar location but no self- seeking hotel staff. In this country you’re an instant millionaire as AU$1 = 8,500kip. Just like good old Indonesia. So being multi-millionaires we stayed 3 nights and took in all the sights, mostly temples, monuments, grandiose French colonial buildings and the Lao version of the Arc de Triumph (photo in last blog). The best part of Vientiane is the cheap Beerlao (AU$1 per longneck), the food and walking through the parks along the Mekong soaking up the peace and quiet; it’s the most laid back capital city in the world.
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| One of the many monuments in Vientiane |
Heading southeast on another “VIP” bus 6hrs later and 300km from Vientiane we reach our next destination Tha Khaek (pronounced Ta Kek) known for its limestone caves. We decided to upgrade our accommodation from the original selection as it’s necessary to read between the lines of the Lonely Planet descriptions. The writers would make good real estate salespeople. Simply it’s a matter of getting what you pay for. Anything below AU$20/night is really not good, unless you’re a budget driven YOUNG masochistic backpacker. We hired a bike the first day and did a circuit of the local caves which was very interesting, most are sacred and full of shrines and Buddha images. Getting to them was no easy feat as we had to drive on the right-hand side of the road looking for non-existent signs, navigate across a creek bed full of water, rutted dirt roads full of potholes and rocks, narrow wooden bridges with planks missing, darting chooks and the forever curious water buffaloes strolling across the road. At one cave we found a local who said he would guide us along the path which we discovered had been camouflaged with broken branches, by him no doubt, very enterprising person. The cave was quite large but restricted part way in by a deep creek crossing which I couldn’t cross without getting wet. John said not to bother but the guide was insistent and tried to carry me but fell and cut his foot, now wishing he hadn’t covered the track and led us in although 15,000kip richer he was probably glad to see us on our way.
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| View from one of the caves looking out onto unploughed paddy fields |
The next day we headed off on a guided tour of the legendary Khong Lo cave, 120km northeast of Tha Khaek in a minibus, with our “English speaking” guide and separate driver (lunatic). The cave is 7.5km long running through a single limestone mountain and is navigable the whole way in a longtail (long skinny canoe with an engine and external drive shaft attached to the stern). There’s a couple of shallow spots and 1 small set of rapids inside which makes it very exhilarating. It’s pitch black the full length except the largest gallery which is lit with various coloured lights. This and other galleries are up to 100ft high and contain some incredible calcium features (stalactites and stalagmites). The trip through takes about 1.5hrs, the longtail skipper and the bowman have spotlights to guide the way. The cave is closed from the end of June for 3 months as the flow of water is so great from the monsoon rains that it becomes too dangerous.
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| The lit gallery in cave |
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| Exiting the other end after 7.5km |
Next day we head off again, unfortunately on a local bus this time, headed for Pakse and 380km further south. Much better than the Chinese buses so we both take up a double seat each and sit back to “enjoy” the trip. Two hours later we arrive in Savannakhet and are pleasantly surprised by the quality of the bus station toilets, so impressed John paid to go twice in the hour long lunch break. Five minutes down the road after the break but still in town the bus stops virtually in the middle of the road and is promptly turned into a tabletop truck taking delivery of 10 new motorbikes which are singularly manhandled up the side and lashed to the roof. Without the photos no one would believe it. Still scratching our heads as to why they weren’t delivered and loaded at the bus station, 2hrs has gone by and we’ve travelled about 3km????? . Finally arrive in Pakse at 1900 in the dark again and travel the extra 8km to town from the bus station in a tuk tuk. We have to direct him as he does not know our hotel even though it’s in the main street. He stops at a friend’s hotel and tries to ditch us there, we ask his friend where our hotel is and he doesn’t know either. I look up while John is talking with the men and luckily see our hotel sign right next door where it should have been. The driver and his friend then ask us to pay 5 times the going rate for the trip from the bus station saying that we chartered his tuk tuk, this then ends in an argument, John offers ¼ his price and says the offer will decrease every time he says no. He took it and we left and checked in next door. Again arriving at night leaves us very vulnerable to these unsavoury characters.
Pakse is a very uninteresting town and really only a stop to access the 4000 islands further south. The entrance to Pakse from the north is via a single lane bridge donated by the French over 100 years ago. Perhaps they thought the town so boring that once out of it people would not want to return. We found a really good Indian restaurant across the road from the hotel with excellent spicy food and cheap beerlao, that’s all we need to keep us happy. Accommodation was cheap and nasty but central; the upmarket hotels were miles away from town.
2 nights in Pakse was enough so we booked a minibus and headed south to Don Khong Island the largest of the 4000 islands group. This group of islands creates a separation in the Mekong River into many fast flowing waterways and because of underlying rock structures waterfalls have developed, one of which is the largest (by water volume) in Southeast Asia (photo below). The waterfalls also prevent access by boat from the south, from the north is ok providing you stop before the waterfalls which has been a problem for some locals in the past apparently. There are plans in the pipeline to build a dam across this section of the Mekong which will no doubt have a disastrous effect on the river system and the people who live off it.
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| The Buffalo are no longer beasts of burden since the introduction of the so called tractors instead they are kept for meat |
To get to Don Khong one must get dropped off at the ferry (longtail) jetty on the mainland after a 2hr minibus trip then negotiate a fare across 1km of river. The trip took about 10min while the negotiations at least 30min, it was our 3rd longtail skipper who finally agreed a price which was still double what we had been informed in Pakse. The 1st wanted too much, the 2nd wanted payment up front. John started to sing “don’t pay the ferryman till he gets you to the other side” I think the 3rd one felt sorry for us. Actually it only cost us AU$1 each but that’s not the point.
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| A couple of the local kids happy for a photo snap |
Don Khong is a wonderfully quiet island, we took a very spacious room at the most upmarket hotel, all other accommodation was in guesthouses which were very basic. The island was empty of tourists, we saw about a dozen whites (fa rangs) in the 4 days we stayed. From now till November is very quiet and rooms are very negotiable. We hired another motorbike for the day and did a full circumnavigation of the island, which only took 4hrs.
The island is full of rice paddies at various stages of cultivation, mango trees full of fruit and heaps of domestic farm animals that roam around everywhere. It was like being on one gigantic farm, the only farm fences were temporary ones to keep the animals out of the rice. We wondered how they know who owns what. These people are so laid back they probably don’t care. Again we found a good restaurant with very friendly staff although the beer was more expensive AU$1.20 each, ah well, island prices I guess.
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| A local restaurant with water views |
The island is full of rice paddies at various stages of cultivation, mango trees full of fruit and heaps of domestic farm animals that roam around everywhere. It was like being on one gigantic farm, the only farm fences were temporary ones to keep the animals out of the rice. We wondered how they know who owns what. These people are so laid back they probably don’t care. Again we found a good restaurant with very friendly staff although the beer was more expensive AU$1.20 each, ah well, island prices I guess.
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| The Khonphasoy Waterfall has claimed the lives of 5 fa rangs so far and injured many others |
Off again on yet another trip along the Mekong this time 1.5 hrs downstream in a longtail to Don Det Island and Don Khon Island which are part of the 4000 island group and joined by an old defunct French built railway line and bridge which served as a means to transport goods from the lower level of the waterfalls to the upper levels. It is in the lower Mekong where the rare Irrawaddy dolphin live. A dolphin that lives in fresh water although the numbers have dwindled dramatically due to modern fishing techniques. Another bike rental and its off again circumnavigating the 2 islands checking out the waterfalls and farmlands. We thought about a dolphin tour in a longtail but after speaking to a local fisherman we were advised that it's better in Cambodia.
Well that's about all for this blog, tomorrow we're off to Cambodia, another country another set of challenges no doubt.
Beers and Cheers (or in this case Myers's Rum)
J&J
