My first stop in Laos was Si Phan Don, meaning “4000 Islands”, right in the south near the Cambodian border. In a wide stretch of the Mekong river, there are loads of islands (like, 4000) that pop up in the dry season, although most of them are just rocks or bits of scrub, and only about three or four of the islands are inhabited. It’s so beautiful here! It’s so peaceful, and makes you feel like you’re just floating down the Mekong. I stayed on Don Det, which is the backpacker-y island and so a bit less peaceful, but other than the main strip of banana-pancake restaurants and bungalow-by-the-river guesthouses, it’s just some Lao wooden stilt houses and water buffalo. There’s not a lot to do except lie around in hammocks, drink Lao whisky and lazily pedal bicycles around in the sweltering heat. Awesome.
this scraggly kitten wandered into my bungalow, so I fed him rice cakes. we were the best of friends. I named him Rice Cake.
On my second day, I went on a kayak trip to see a bit more of the area. We went to the biggest waterfall in South-East Asia, it was pretty big. We went down THREE (!) sets of rapids, but they weren’t very big. We also saw more Irrawaddy dolphins (n.b. not as rare as previously though), although they weren’t putting on as much as a show as in Kratie. We also saw another waterfall, and ate watermelon on a rock. A fun excursion that made my arms very painful the next day.
hardcore canoe crew
rapids! or this might be a waterfall.
red flowers by the Mekong
Continuing my journey north, I’m now in a town called Pakse. This town is mainly a starting-point for trips around more rural parts of southern Laos, but I like the old-timey feel here. Last night I met three sexy French hippies, and we ended up in a Laos discotheque dancing to Justin Bieber until the early hours.
beer garden by the river
when you pull up at a club and it’s called VICTORY, you know you’re in for a good night
I was supposed to meet the hippies this morning to go on a motorbike day trip (I always feel a little concerned doing long drives on my own, in case I have an accident or my bike breaks down or something), but they were more hungover than Little Miss No-Hangovers, so I did what I had to do and went on the 200km round-trip solo. This trip was amazing, not because of any of the sights I went to see, but just because the Laos countryside in itself is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Yet again, photos can’t do it justice, and nor can my lame wordy descriptions. You’ll just have to come here and see it for yourself.
this was the most amazing waterfall I’ve every been to; like a fantasy of a jungle paradise, except it was real and I was there
plate of cabbage, pint of green tea and a basket of sticky rice, yum
another waterfall, one day I might get bored but not yet
pretty field
the ferry to Champasak…two canoes joined by some wooden planks. that’s my bike on the right.
a buddha I found in the trees
ancient Khmer serpents at Wat Phu
dancing shiva
gah, this place is just insanely picturesque, it’s too much
At one point I was thinking about how much of an awesome and badass motorbike driver I am, before pulling into a petrol station in a little rural village. As soon as I stopped, I noticed the horrible stink of burning plastic. I tried to unload my rucksack from my bike to get at the petrol cap, and then saw that I'd managed to weld the strap of my bag onto the bike exhaust, and it wasn’t coming off. I flapped around to explain this situation to the petrol attendant, and she brought a pair of scissors and had to hack my bag away from the exhaust pipe. I wonder if this ever happens to Hells Angels.
lol asians
