The bus leaving from Vientienne south to Pakse was an overnight one with a drop off in Savannaket. The plan was to work slowly south and not spend inordinate amounts of time on buses.

Even thought the bus schedule clearly said that we would arrive in Savannaket at 3 AM, I decided that, based on experience, that was highly unlikely and as long as there was only about an hour before daylight, it would be fine.

Imagine my surprise when we pulled into Savannaket at ten to three AM. The bus station appearred to be a street corner. Well, I certainly wasn't going to hang out on a street corner in the middle of the night so I made the call to remain on the bus and a groggy Rick agreed.

We arrived in Pakse at 6 AM. It seemed everyone on the bus was heading down to the 4,000 islands and I head read that there really wasn't anything to do in Pakse so I opted to just go with the flow and continue the journey.

Rick on the other hand didn't feel the need to rush and felt that there might be something to do so he opted to stay. I think I was actually pretty happy to part ways because I realized that I was using him as a security blanket and it felt good to head off on an adventure on my own.

I wasn't on my own for long. I hooked up with a Belgian woman and we shared a thatch bungalow on the island of Don Det. Don Det was very hot and the type of place where you just swim a bit in the Mekong and relax in a hammock.

This would've been great if, in my abrupt parting from Rick, I had not left him with my book. To be more specific, my second book which I had lent him because he had lost his. I was carrying two books because after being stranded without a book on numerous occassions in South America, I vowed that it would never ever happen again.

So much for preparation. I only had a short bit left in my first book so there I was with not a whole lot to do but learn how to count in low and sit very still so that I did not overheat.

Don Det was a cute little island. My time there included biking around, visting a waterfall, getting nibbled on by a fish, and swimming in the could be cleaner Mekong River.

Many people stay for days. I only needed 2 but stayed for four. Unlike every other country in SE Asia that issue you a visa that is good for 2 or 3 months so you can enter at any time and start your 30 day stay, Vietnam makes you choose what day you will enter. Having only the book to base my estimate of how much time I would need in southern Laos, I seriously miscalculated the date that I would want to enter Vietnam. And so, my visa for Vietnam did not start until March 2 which left me with a lot of time to kill.

I hate to say that but it is true. I had planned to go off the beaten path a bit, but then I realized that Laos is just not inspiring me. I would love to see it after the rain, but right now it is very dry. And, the unfortunate thing about Laos is that in order to go anywhere, you have to leave from a main hub which means going back and forth and fanning out from a central spot that isn't actually central. The other option is to make your own way without a bus schedule which is pretty much a guarantee that you will have to stay in a different place each night because most buses leave in the morning.

What I have come to realize about Laos is that it is a place that you experience. There is not much to see and do. It is mostly just experiencing the locals way of life. I've done a lot of that and don't really think that doing someplace that takes an obscenely long hot bus ride sitting on a plastic stool in the aisle is going to enhance the experience any.

After the 4,000 islands, I headed to a place called Tad Lo with an Aussie named Naomi. She has dark curly hair and a similar build to me so people kept thinking we were sisters. We stayed in another thatch bungalow that was literally in the middle of a barn yard.

I've liked all of the animals in Laos. One thing I have noted about the free range chickens is that there ain't a whole lot of meat on them. Chicken was in short supply in Tad Lo, they didn't have it all but once when I ordered it and the poor little chicken leg had about as much meat as my thumb.

Like, Don Det, Tad Lo is a place to relax. There is a beautiful waterfall to swim in and it felt cleaner then the Mekong. We also went on a bit of a hike and visted a village of ethnic minorities that have the tradition of building their coffins and storing them under their houses well in advance of their impending death.

It was a nice place, but after seeing the people I arrived with come and go and then another set of people come and go, I decided it was time to leave. Naomi was heading north to Savannaket and I decided to go with her since I had not yet seen it.

From there, I would figure out what to do until Vietnam.