Southbound in Laos
Day 55 – 65 Luang Prabang / Vang Vieng / Vientiane / Ba Na Hin / Pakse / Don Det
It has been a long time since i wrote this so ill recall the most memorable event…
The Buddha Park an hour outside Vientiane (Bus 14 from the local bus st.) was really worth while seeing. It is a small enclosed park area with a vast collection of stone statues of spirtual, mythical, human and animal figures. The majority of statues are of Buddhas, but there there are also Hindu gods, and probably others that i didnt recognise. They are mostly huge, as in tripple life size, but they range from life size to collosal. There is a stone building near the entrance and climbing through the animal mouth opening you enter a dark center where you can spiral your way up (a bit hands and knees at times) to the opening at the top to get a view of the park.
Ba Na Hin was worth going out of our way for, at least for the jourmey through the countryside, undisturbed rural villages and as a base to visit the 7m long cave it is known for. The day we took to visit the cave, was memorable firstly for the experience of the local transport, when the bridge hasnt been built and there has been too much rain to drive through the river – that doenst stop you, just wade through. But bless the drivers who took us as they guided us through the waist high water with care. So with no vechile, the 4 of us heading for the cave and 1 of our drivers waited in a small village for an age while the other driver headed of to the next town on a bike to get us some transport. I love the way the drivers just weren’t fazed by the disturbance. When we finally got there the cave was really good fun, and to state the obvious: very dark, wet and enormous inside. But no it isnt a normal cave, the whole thing was a little surreal actually, the time you spend inside, and the vastness of the cave makes you a little disorientated. The boatmen have to keep stopping and get you to wade because it is too shallow in parts, which is all the more fun with limited torch light. Particularly my recently bought non-branded batteries, which meant i couldnt see past my own nose using my own torch.
The Jounrey to Pakse characteristically Laos – the rule is there is always room for one more person. From Ba Na Hin we went to Tha Kek in the back of a pick up bus (well half my body hung outside because it was a bit full) then waited for the afternoon bus of unspecified arrival/departure time to Pakse. Where we sat ourselves at the station was so full of petrol fumes i decided to move away, but didnt realise i eneded up sitting next to a stand selling bbq’d rats. So this coach, i wish i had got a picture of becuase the gang way was waist high of luggage, boxes, food, and of course a motorbike, leaving passengers to Indiana Jones it stepping on the arms rests holding the over head rail. It was a squeeze even on the seats…but an entertaining jounrey with our little off roading side trip to a village to drop off what we think were a football team (who laughed at emily for her refusal to accept their Lao Lao whiskey). Even the coach load of people seemed entertained by the coach going down the pot-holed dirt road – pointing and talking loudly about our little diversion.
Don Det – i wouldnt say this was a highlight exactly – it was memorable however and certainly made us appreciate our next stop in Phnom Penh. We had a no electricity 80p bungalow each (bed bugs and all) and a lack of sleep due to the heat. We only stayed 2 nights and spent most of our time cafe crawling down the dirt road in search of cold drinks. There is a bakery (of course a western owner) that did fresh bread and cakes in the afternoon, and that was welcomed by Emily and I. Don Det was not as developed and touristy as i had expected despite having given up a very long time ago on paying attention to any description Lonely Planet gives on a place. There is a nice terrace restaurant run by a Belgian guy – people tend to congregate here at sunset, it certainly is a good place to be.
Onwards to Cambodia…
Tags: Laos
laurapopturtle
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.