Itinerary:
Da nang, Vietnam - Hue, Vietnam by sleeper bus
Hue, Vietnam - Savannahket, Laos via the Lao Bao Border
Savannahket - Pakse (1 day)
Pakse - Tad Lo (3 days)
Tad Lo - Pakse - Champasak
Champasak - 4,000 Islands (Don Det and Don Khong)
4,000 Islands - Pakse
Pakse - Da Nang (so we had hoped, unfortunately getting home wasn't that easy)
Instead... we went Pakse - Attapeau - LoBy Border - Hoi An - Da Nang
Lao MUST HAVES:
flashlight
loads of bugspray
sunscreen
sun hat
light scarf or shall
wet wipes/toilet paper
cotton clothing
headband
journal
watch
handsanitizer
first aid kit
hoodie
earplugs
Lao Bao Border
- $38 for Laos Visa
- Don't worry if you don't have a passport size photo with you, which we didn't, the immigration officer will gladly take one for you with his cellphone!! Legit?
The majority of houses in Laos, especially those outside the city, are built of wood and placed on stilts. My theory is that the area under the house provides shade from the intense heat. You will often see a hammock hanging and other means of seating under the house, along with other things that would normally be kept in garage.
I like taking photos of STOP signs from different countries.
The mysterious "egg" fruit. Looks like a mix between a mango and an egg, and has a taste similar to that of a cooked sweet potato. It was given to us by the owner of the guest house we stayed at in Savannahket. I have never had anything like it in my life, but I loved it! Unfortunately, I am yet to find another one. Google tells me its called Tiessa and originates in the Phillipines.
Savannahket by bike!
- Bike rental 10,000 kip ($1.20) per day
Best meal in Savannahket! Dinner on the raft house (heuan phae), a floatable restaurant on the banks of the Mekong. These restaurants are known for their Khao pan, which is lettuce or cabbage wraps werved with fish, veggies noodles and a spicy sauce. The fish was delicious! White, flaky, and stuffed with lemon grass for the perfect flavor!
Laos Cemetary
Just like Piotr, the Laos people love watermelon! We happened upon this huge bag of watermelon seeds (which, i might add, are very tricky to eat) and drove past a huge watermelon market! I've never seen so many watermelons!
Tuk-Tuk to Pakse. Tuk-Tuk's are the Laos version of a taxi named after the tuk tuk tuk tuk sound they make.
From Pakse, we went to Tad Lo, a small village about 30 km away. However, the bus we took to Tad Lo dropped us just short of the village. Instead of walking 2 km with our bags, we decided to hop in this "vehicle" and ride there in style :)
The most memorable part of Tad Lo were the village children. From the moment we got there we were showered with attention from these 4 adorable little faces. They would follow us around the village holding our hands and giggling at everything we said.
Tad Lo is something of a budget traveler's paradise. We stayed at Mama Pap's guesthouse for 20,000 kip per night = $2.50. Tad Lo is named after a series of three falls, Tad Suong, Tad Lo and Tad Hang. Tad Hang is the first set of falls and the one closest to our guesthouse. It is the smallest and gentlest of the three, but has the best opportunity for taking a dip. Piotr and I went swimming only once because the water was soooo cold. However, the people of Tad Lo use the waterfalls as their shower. Just after 5pm, you will see groups of women and men meeting at the falls for their evening shower.
Yes, I did catch 2 goats in the act!
Animals walk freely around the village of Tad Lo. It's totally normal to be walking home and run into a couple of pigs, cows, roosters, dogs and if you're lucky an elephant!
After 3 days in Tad Lo it was time to continue our journey south to the city of Champasak. A trip that should normally take just over an hour, took us five thanks to this lovely vehicle! The driver stopped 3 different times to try and get a wheel fixed, this took over an hour, and landed us right back at the bus stop! Not to mention, the glorified tuk-tuk could only handle speeds of around 40 miles per hour.
We arrived to the ferry at dusk, after what felt like an eternity on the tuk-tuk. The sky was beautiful that night. For a moment, before the light disappeared into the night, everyone forget there frustrations and irritations of the long ride, and were overtaken by the calmness around them.
Champasak
Champasak is home to a ruined Khmer temple known as Wat Phu. The temple dates back to the 5th Century, but the surviving structures date back to the 11th - 13th centuries.
We only stayed one night in Champasak. After seeing the Wat Phu temple, we hired a guy to take us by minivan to the 4,000 Islands, a 2 hour trip by car. We had had enough of buses that take 5 hours longer than they should!
Our days on the island were spent chilling in hammocks, reading and playing cribbage. Our bungalow was right on the river with a beach front. However, we never made it swimming while there.
The 4000 Islands or Si Phan Don are a collection of islands in the Mekong River, in the far south of Laos. On the boat ride over to the island, you start to get an idea of why they are called 4000 Islands - there are tiny little islands everywhere! Some big enough for just one tree.
There are two big islands where people live, Don Det and Kon Khong. We stayed on the island of Don Det. The islands are very similar, the only difference is that you have to pay 20,000 kip to enter the island of Don Khong and it felt a bit more crowded. Overall, the islands are very chill, and there are lots of tourists.
Everything on the island is catered to tourists and their ideas of a good time.
Happy Bar Menu
Hangover Breakfast
2 eggs any style, Garlic Bread, Cheese
French Fries, Coke or Pepsi
Fruit Salad, Parcetamol, Valium
Cruisin to the waterfall!
The main tourist attractions in Laos are its waterfalls. The Khonephapheng is the largest waterfall by volume in all of Southeast Asia.
The monks walk around the city every morning collecting food for the day. They always maintain a single file line, even when they are not receiving food.
Monkey Business
On our last day in Don Det, right before leaving the island, we said good bye to our friend Curious George. George spent his days tied up to tree near our bungalow, checking out the passerbys. Piotr was the first to meet and greet the monkey, who calmly jumped on top of Piotrs arm and sat there like a good little monkey. When it was my turn, the monkey jumped onto my arm and hung from it, just long enough to steal the chapstick I had in the outside pocket of my purse. Before I realized what was going on, the monkey was off my arm and back on the tree...eating my chapstick!
And that was the end of our trip to Laos... Been there Don Det!
