Amazingly, for the first time since I left the UK, the blog has caught up with me. Its the 28th December and I am in Paske, the town I travelled to after Savannakhet. I have been here 3 days, Today I went on an organised tour the the Bolaven Plateau - yes that mysterious plateau. I did try the unorganised tour, ie organised it myself and it was a not a success. More in the next post.
I forgot to mention in the Coming soon to a computer screen near you... post that Kia in the coming weeks will post a selection of the Photos from India and Nepal, Kia's Corner. Something to look forward.
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28 December 2008
27 December 2008
Savannakhet Or Those are MY Bananas!!!
After a 3hrs journey I arrived in Savannakeht, the second largest town in Laos and the most popouluse province. On the bus, I me met up with a dutchman and a dane and on arrival at the bus station headed together to a guest house. This is one of the few bus station which is within walking distance of the town centre. However, the guest house we choose was the other side of the centre. A 30 min walk. What we do sometime to save the tuk tuk fair of 10,000 Kips - it sounds a lot but this is only 1€. It is one of the problems of travelling around Laos, you loose sometime perspective of the actual cost. You haggle over sometime 1000, 2000, 5000 Kips etc which is only 10, 20, 50 cents. Sorry UK, It is easier for me to quote in €.
saisouk is very pleasant guest house with wooden floors, single rooms and is incredibly cheap. They were a bit strict on the noise level. I droped a tube of toothpaste in my room one evening. And they came to knock on my door to keep the noise down???? It was also the first guest house that I stayed in where there was a curfew. We had to be back in by 11pm. Spent the first day exploring the centre and along the Mekong with with Felix & Elvin, the previously mention dutchman and dane. Savannakhet lies on the bank of Mekong and is a border town. Thailand is on the other side. A second bridge, a few Km out of town links the two sides.
I have to admit, I liked Savannakhet. The first town in Laos which does not pander to the tourist. They caterd for us but did not depend on us. A pleasant change.
The second day I followed the French Colonial architechtural heritage route through the town. These building in most cases have not been preserved. I think there is a program to renovate this building. Less for historical reasons more, like in Luang Prabang, to appeal in the future to the tourist trade.
That day, at the guest house, met Severine from France - the guest on the previous video post - who proposed we go on one of the tours outside the town on a hired moped. I hear all the screams that I was let loose on the roads o Laos in charge of a motorised vehicle. No panic. We hired only one and I went as a passenger.
The day itself, after a nice strong Lao Coffee, we headed on our day excursion around the province. Vising lakes, villages, temples monkey forest and a major buddhist library/temple. We crossed a river - Through the river to be precise. Near Monkey Forest, I bought a bunch of banana. A bargain. At the time I did not realise that i would be sharing them with the monkeys. This was not out of choice. We stopped to ask direction near the (first) temple. Whilst we were distracted, a monkey sneaked up to the scooter's basket and stole my bananas. NOBODY STEALS MY FRUIT. A little chase ensued. A couple of metres after he dropped them. It got away with a few. I got most of them back. As we went through the forest, the monkeys started to come out of the forest, They are used to being fed by visitors. They could smell the bananas. We had something in comon. We both wanted my bananas. So being a grown man, i tried to eat them all as quick as possible. Fruit is fruit. I had to throw a couple of them to the monkeys int he end because they really wanted these bananas...
We arrived back to Savannakhet just after the sun set. A bit chilly but a day of first. My first day on a scooter - i don't count the 10 min journey in the South of Thailand. The only casualty was my backside. A bit sore after 6 hrs sat on a scooter. And Severine, thanks for driving. The photos here tell the story.
The following day a trip to the market, chicken and sticky rice - yes food again - and eve of Xmas meal with Severine in the evening - as seen in the video blog.
I spent 4 nights in Savannakhet and was sad to move on. A very relaxing town.
saisouk is very pleasant guest house with wooden floors, single rooms and is incredibly cheap. They were a bit strict on the noise level. I droped a tube of toothpaste in my room one evening. And they came to knock on my door to keep the noise down???? It was also the first guest house that I stayed in where there was a curfew. We had to be back in by 11pm. Spent the first day exploring the centre and along the Mekong with with Felix & Elvin, the previously mention dutchman and dane. Savannakhet lies on the bank of Mekong and is a border town. Thailand is on the other side. A second bridge, a few Km out of town links the two sides.
I have to admit, I liked Savannakhet. The first town in Laos which does not pander to the tourist. They caterd for us but did not depend on us. A pleasant change.
The second day I followed the French Colonial architechtural heritage route through the town. These building in most cases have not been preserved. I think there is a program to renovate this building. Less for historical reasons more, like in Luang Prabang, to appeal in the future to the tourist trade.
That day, at the guest house, met Severine from France - the guest on the previous video post - who proposed we go on one of the tours outside the town on a hired moped. I hear all the screams that I was let loose on the roads o Laos in charge of a motorised vehicle. No panic. We hired only one and I went as a passenger.
The day itself, after a nice strong Lao Coffee, we headed on our day excursion around the province. Vising lakes, villages, temples monkey forest and a major buddhist library/temple. We crossed a river - Through the river to be precise. Near Monkey Forest, I bought a bunch of banana. A bargain. At the time I did not realise that i would be sharing them with the monkeys. This was not out of choice. We stopped to ask direction near the (first) temple. Whilst we were distracted, a monkey sneaked up to the scooter's basket and stole my bananas. NOBODY STEALS MY FRUIT. A little chase ensued. A couple of metres after he dropped them. It got away with a few. I got most of them back. As we went through the forest, the monkeys started to come out of the forest, They are used to being fed by visitors. They could smell the bananas. We had something in comon. We both wanted my bananas. So being a grown man, i tried to eat them all as quick as possible. Fruit is fruit. I had to throw a couple of them to the monkeys int he end because they really wanted these bananas...
We arrived back to Savannakhet just after the sun set. A bit chilly but a day of first. My first day on a scooter - i don't count the 10 min journey in the South of Thailand. The only casualty was my backside. A bit sore after 6 hrs sat on a scooter. And Severine, thanks for driving. The photos here tell the story.
The following day a trip to the market, chicken and sticky rice - yes food again - and eve of Xmas meal with Severine in the evening - as seen in the video blog.
I spent 4 nights in Savannakhet and was sad to move on. A very relaxing town.
Tha Khaek
I am then heading southwards. My first stop is Tha Khaek, 6 hrs out of Vientiane. The hardest part of the journey was to get from my guest house in Vientiane to the southern bus terminal. 8 km from centre. Seem to have a misunderstanding with the bus driver and got somewhere. Which for me was nowhere. To give the bus driver credit, he did sort out for me a sawngthaew to the bus station.
I came to Tha Khaek to break up my journey south. To see what Tha Khaek offers. And what does Tha Khaek offer? Tha Khaek itself, nothing. You come here as a base to explore the province. The surround area is meant to be great. I stayed 1 night and left first thing in the morning. However I did have a pleasant meal by the Mekong with a view of Thailand, and then later - still by the Mekong - a drink with a David a Belgium - the first of my travels - In meeting other backpackers, we compare notes. My notes are not extensive. I seem to be making it up as I go along. He told me about about the Bolaven Plateau - I bought the Lonely Planet for for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & The Greater Mekong, which does not cover in detail the Bolaven Plateau. The Bolaven Plateau is further south and is a place I must visit. You wondering why? Any guesses? I will tell all soon.
I came to Tha Khaek to break up my journey south. To see what Tha Khaek offers. And what does Tha Khaek offer? Tha Khaek itself, nothing. You come here as a base to explore the province. The surround area is meant to be great. I stayed 1 night and left first thing in the morning. However I did have a pleasant meal by the Mekong with a view of Thailand, and then later - still by the Mekong - a drink with a David a Belgium - the first of my travels - In meeting other backpackers, we compare notes. My notes are not extensive. I seem to be making it up as I go along. He told me about about the Bolaven Plateau - I bought the Lonely Planet for for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & The Greater Mekong, which does not cover in detail the Bolaven Plateau. The Bolaven Plateau is further south and is a place I must visit. You wondering why? Any guesses? I will tell all soon.
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