Thursday 17 January 2008

..and finally

Pam and I have been truly amazed at the number of friends and relations who have been following our blog. It started out for us as a record of our journey and turned into a tool by which people could communicate and comment and it was great fun to hear from all our friends back home and in other parts of the world. It's been a truly inspirational trip giving us an insight into how people from other cultures live and hopefully it'll be the pre-cursor for many other trips in the future.
Soooooooo.... thanks to everyone for your contributions and thanks too to the many hundreds(probably thousands) of people with whom we've made contact and friends during the 3.5 months we've been away. Our special thanks go to all those wonderful people who have welcomed us into their countries and made us feel 'at home', from the yankee dudes in Boston to the lovely Raratongans, the friendly Kiwi's to the Aussie sports, the polite Thais to the wonderful Laos people who have little, but offer everything they have.......................thanks a million!

A sudden end


On Saturday 12th Jan, we woke up to a text from our niece Emma, which informed us that Pam's sister Diana, who has suffered from MS for many years, had had a cardiac arrest and was in intensive care on a life support machine in Addenbrookes hospital Cambridge. We immediately set about trying to book tickets to come home and after dashing around various agents, secured flights for Sunday 13th.

We arrived back on Sunday night and have spent some days visiting Di, before travelling back to Glossop on Wednesday. She is still very ill, but has been moved from intensive care to a general ward, where we follow progress carefully.

Luang Prabang



Having 'done' the middle and south of Laos, we wanted to explore the north and so, the following day we said our goodbyes to the friendly staff at the Hotel Pakse and flew to the old capital city of Luang Prabang.


Andy had told us that we should see it and that we would enjoy its many and varied charms.


A two hour flight and 10,000 kip taxi ride and we were in LP by late afternoon. This is a beautiful city and although it attracts many thousands of tourists every year, it still retains its charm and historical interest. It's true that it caters for European and American tastes, but so far, the likes of McDonalds and Starbucks haven't touched this country(phew!!!).


A walk around the evening market was enough to convince us that we really liked the city and we planned to spend 5/6 days here, before moving down to the capital Ventiane, by way of Vang Vien.


However...................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 9 January 2008

Done Khone..4,000 islands, Laos

We decided to explore the 'deep south' of Laos, so organised a 2-day trip to Done Khone and the '4,000 islands' through our hotel. The hotel provided a driver, Mr Kampak, whose spoken english was limited, but we were advised that he knew the itinerary like 'the back of his hand' and, we were up for the challenge!!!
So, an early start and off we went in what must have been our most luxurious transport to-date.(a 4-wheel drive Diahatsu space-wagon) to Wat Phou an ancient Khmer style temple in the Champasak region. This is even older than Angkor Wat in neighbouring Cambodia and involved a very interesting Ferry crossing of the Mekong on a rather unusual craft, looking like it had been cobbled together from a 'Blue Peter' kit!!!!

On our return to the east bank, we sped off to another equally old temple called Wat Oumong, whose ruins lay in an forested spot, famous for its butterflies(a stern test for Pam).
We then took a long-tail boat(minus Mr. Kampak) from Ban Hatsaikoune down the Mekong to Ban Nakasang, where we again picked up Mr Kampak for the final stretch of the Mekong to Don Khone, where we were to spend the night.


However, on landing at Don Khone, we promptly jumped on cycles for the 1.5 mile ride down to the impressive Li Phi falls, which make this stretch of the Mekong un-navigable!


Day 2 saw us heading back to Route 13 via the Mekong and 4-wheel drive to Khonephapheng falls an even more impressive natural phenomena which stretches almost 20k across the Mekong river and is known locally as the Niagara of SE Asia. The sheer size and noise levels experienced here gave an incredible feeling of un-bridled power.

After a look around the local market we headed back north to a final temple, where a baci ceremony was held for us both.

After lunch at a road-side cafe(soup again) we headed North for a final elephant ride at Phu Asa, where we got a good soaking from our beast as it decided to spray cool water on its back(not far from where we were sitting!!).

On then, back to Pakse where a local market visit was the last thing on the agenda.

























Monday 7 January 2008

Tad Fane. Laos






We decided that a couple of days away from the hulabaloo of town life would be a good idea and some fellow travellers had told us that Tad Fane eco-lodge would be a good place to visit. So, armed with a minimum of information, we set off east out of Pakse to stay a couple of nights. The main attraction was the walking and a couple of very impressive waterfalls, one of which plummets 120m to the valley below.



We weren't disappointed and like so many places in this country, it was extremely beautiful and peaceful.



Heading back, we decided to take the local tuk-tuk, which we thought would take us all the way to Pakse!!! Not so and with so many encounters, what you think you've sorted, turns out to be challenging!!! (Must learn to speak Lao.....I'm sure it might help)



We ended up swapping tuk-tuks half way back and loading our ruck-sacks on top........only to be joined a couple of minutes later by a lady carrying a truck-load of raw meat(in plastics bags) to market and another woman transporting 4 or 5 bags of material. Joy of Joys!!!!!



However, I suppose we can't complain......the journey of 60k only cost us the equivalent of a quid each!!!!!!

Friday 4 January 2008

Tahkaek Trek, Laos











Got up latish on New Years day and visited local Mini-Mart. Andy & Jo try(without much success) to arrange their return trip to Thailand. Visit Smiley Horse again, but don't stay very long as mossies in full flight/bite mode!! Interesting meal at Thakaek restaurant(no connection with Travel Lodge)!


The next day we meet our guide for a 2 day/1 night homestay in a local village. The trek promises a first day of 16k and a second day of 17k and our guide is to be Deth a very lively young man who speaks good english and has a great sense of humour. We all took to him immediately as he 'sang' along his words and made a point of pronouncing his r's with a resounding rrrrrrrrrrr!!

After a mornings walk, we visited a lovely cave, picking up Mr Mee a local guide on the way, who also had a lovely disposition and good sense of humour!! Lunch followed and we all tasted grass-hopper mixed with some chillies and various other ingredients(couldn'y stop hiccoughing afterwards!!)

We arrived in he village and after collecting a few bottles of Beer-Laos, proceeded to eat evening meal. The fish was excellent, but the chicken a little tough for our western palates. A range of other 'local foods' were also tasted. A Baci ceremony was also held to welcome us into the village!

The next day we were up(after a very cold night), at 7am to continue our trek to a Lake and finally a LOD Tractor drove us(1.5hrs!!) to some rapids, where we swam to round off the day. We all enjoyed ourselves very much and will have some happy memories of Deth and all the other people who looked after us over the two days.







Sala Hin Boun, Laos



Next day was a very casual affair with lots of catch-up going on with Andy & Jo and a short cycle ride around Tahkaek.






The following day we arranged our 2-day trek to Sala Hin Boun..an eco-lodge by the river which would allow us to explore Konglur Cave, a 7 km cavern which we could navigate by boat. That evening saw us at The Smiley Horse restaurant overlooking the Mekong having evenig meal together.


Up early the next day to depart from Tahkaek at 7.30am by coach to Ban Na Hin where we then shared a sawngthaew(van-like open taxi) with some Aussies to travel the remaining 1.5 hours to Sala Hin Boun. arrived around 3pm and spent the evening relaxing.






'Watching the world go' by was the general activity the following day as we relaxed and wnt for a short local walk in the afternoon. A bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon(oh bliss! the first wine since Australia) finished a perfect day.

Up at 8.45am next day to leave by small motorized canoe(3/4 man) for Konglur cave. An hour and a half on wooden seats was enough to give us reason to move around a lot, but the journey there was superb as we were able to view at first -hand everyday village life and to witness just how important the river is to villagers. Children playing, women doing their laundry and washing and fishing were just a few activities.

Konglur Cave was also very impressive, in places, 75m high x 75m wide and still used by the locals as a passage to the other side of the mountain!!

Aftr a picnic at the far end of the cave, we headed back through, ably assisted by our local guides, who even offered their flip-flops for us to walk on the gravel!!!

The following day, we headed back to the 'flesh-pots' of Thakaek (after oversleeping) and arrived early afternoon.
That evening was spent around the camp-fire seeing in the New Year and the staff and customers danced and drank till 2am!!!