10th, 11th, 12th - Tadlow and waterfalls and mad treks

Tuesday 10th - Travel from Ventienne to Don Det via Pakse.

We arrived in Pakse at about 7am, winning my bet with Nathan that the whole journey would take less than 12 hours. Yesssssss! Is just so hard being right. Was really tired tho due to horrible sleep. But at least as soon as we got to Paske in our smelly and dishevelled state we managed to get straight back on the same bus to an area called the Boloven Plateau (Tadlow) which is known for its waterfalls - apparantly there's is not much to do in Paske itself, it's more a transport hub.

I'm glad we came to Tadlow - it is so beautiful and chilled and underdeveloped and yes there are guest houses but is not toursity so is still predominantly a locals village. Is it sad that the pigs are possibly one of my favourite things here?! How can such creature embody such character and be so entertaining? There is something innately amusing about them. Caught up on some sleep and then went to the nearby waterfall for a dip and a beer, the one which we can see from our balcony. We could have got extremely cheap accomodation here (bamboo huts for less than 2 pounds a night it just gets better and better!!!) but have gone a bit more upmarket, in a room made of contrete of all things shock horror with own bathroom and balcony and river views. All for 70,000 kip which is like less than 6 quid between us..

Lazy day. Is very hot. Headed out in the evening to one of the few cafe's for some grub, really friendly owner where we had gone earlier for lunch and where the girl we met on the bus is staying.

An English couple Jenny and Rich sat at our table and we all got on really well, spending the evening together chatting and then agreeing to meet for breakfast the next morning so we could explore! Bring it on.
Money spent: Bus to Tadlow 30,000 (2.50) breakfast 12,000 (1 pound), lunch and beer 25,000 (2.10) dinner 30,000 (2.5). TOTAL: 8.10


Weds 11th - Tadlow Day 2.

We met up with the guys from last night to do off for the day. Ended up eating another banana and chocolate pancake for brekkie with an orange juice while Nath checked his e-mails. I think I am in danger of becoming an official banana pancake addict. I love this village, I woke up and looked out over our balcony and saw one of the afore-mentioned pigs waddling very purposefully towards his morning mud bath! There are also piglets which trot around and are the cutest things ever but are very selfish creatures - will they stay still for me to take a photo? NO!! Chickens and animals roam free here - even an elephant wasn't tethered - yes I did say elephant - and I think it is so nice. The other thing that strikes me is how family orientated life is in Laos. Like Nathan said, in England or whatever people work and then spend time with their families in the spare time - work and family are mostly 2 completely seperate entities - but here the whole family sleep together - literally in the same room, and also work together running a family buisness, often tourist based. I have yet to see anything resembling what seems to be a normal western job. Yet life seems attractively simple, the children splashing and playing in the river with their friends and even mundane tasks such as washing clothes have an element of lightness and playfulness about them. I guess the sunshine helps. Children seem more responsible though, helping out serving tables or looking after siblings. I've also noticed there also seem to be a lot of young mums. I would like to engage in more conversation with the locals here but they speak little or no english which is a shame. The children seem very open to tourists often shouting and waving a 'sabadee' (hello) with a smile on their faces and respond well to attempts at conversation however basic. The adults however, I feel regard us with a mixture of suspicion and disdain, or something to be put up with for the sake of economy! However they are for the most part polite and friendly. I guess they see a variety of 'Falong' passing through and some are more respectful than others.

Jenny and Richard met while doing a ski season in France and have now been together for 2 years. They are just fun and easy to chat to and its nice to hang out with other people because now its me and Nath I was worried it would be harder to meet people.

We walked to the 'second' waterfall, going via the elephants rides which I was dissapointed was full for the remainder of the day. Sob sob. Will I ever actually do the elephant thing?! Why didn't I do the Luang Prabang one as intended? I guess the answer is I was with a crowd it was nice to keep travelling with. The waterfall was close and pretty amazing, and we had our staple swim and a beer in the sun (of course sun, its not snowing like England he he). After a bit we set off to walk to the larger waterfall and this is where the true fun started, or my idea of fun anyway.... Basically we had NO idea of where we were going, no map, and any locals we met along the way had no clue what we were saying! What I love about Laos is how underdeveloped it is. Everything seems authentic and non touristy. So why should the locals understand English?

The river was absolutely beautiful and for much of our walk we followed it along, occassionally crossing it by scrambling over the rocks. We saw water buffalo and random cows and bulls along the way which just added to the whole experience of this would not happen in England. It was also fairly surreal as we were trying to find footpaths we passed through a burnt field which with the charred ash on the floor was like stepping into a world reminiscent of narnia. Or something like that..

Had a really nice evening chilling and playing poker (can't believe I'm nearly 30 and never played it before?) and exchanging photos and now I also have some more movies on my netbook! Result. Oh, and I also beat Jenny at Slam. Twice. A great end to a great day.....

Money spent Lunch and dinner and drinks 55,000 (4.60), waters 2,000 (17p), breakfast 15,000 (1.25), beers 10,000 (85p). TOTAL: 6.87


Thurs 12th March - Tadlow to Don Det.

Was largely a travelling day. Got up early to get the 8.30 bus as Nate had to spend a few hours catching up with the internet in Pakse after hearing of the primitive conditions of the 4000 islands! Jenny and Rich came too which was nice. They're on their way north which is a shame because I have really enjoyed hanging out with them.

Got to Pakse, absolutely nothing to do there culturally! - but had a nice indian with the guys (sort of brunch shall we say) and then treated myself to a wonderful oil massage for a fiver. Sigh. Got a shared tuk tuk to 4 000 islands, we decided on Don Det as thats where Jenny and Rich recommended. It seemed to take forever to leave as the driver seemed to stop then go get petrol then back to the bus station to pick up his daughter or girlfriend or someone else! Its the way it is here but as you get used to it its really nice as everybody is in that kind of laid back mentality and people dont seem to get stressed. At first we were the only westeners in the tuk tuk which I really liked as I witnessed the interaction of the locals with each other. Many had bought melons and vegetables from the market and one lady took the journey to prepare for the evening meal. At every stop we were bombarded by other locals selling food - largely whole chickens on sticks but which seemed to have been walloped by a giant mallot until they were flat all over. It was the strangest thing, these flat chickens being thrust at all and sundry. At one point an Irish and Australian guy got on and surrounded by these two bigs guys and Nate you really do see the striking difference between western and laos men. One laos man even commented and laughed about it in his broken english and in sign language told me he was 52.

Even the elderly here seem active and agile I cannot imagine them for example languishing in an old peoples home. The journey was quite enjoyable really, even with the sore bottom (!) and I really loved the increasing ruralness (is there such a word?) as we approached the 4,000 islands. It was sunset by the time we arrived and had to get a boat across the water to Don Det. I am realising time is running out and I have to make decisions in the next week.

We checked out a couple of places accomodation wise and eventualluy settled on sunset bungalows which literally just have a bed inside, no electricity sockets or anything else. Not even a fan! It was very very hot in the evening and I didnt sleep until 2 as was just so uncomfortably hot. Is a bit like camping, there is only electricity here between certain hours so we had to sort ourselves out with a torch. But all adds to the fun.

Had a meal out and a very strong lao lao mojito which was an experience in itself! Looking forward to waking up to this view tomorrow morning. We're right on the Mekong.

Money spent: Bus to Pakse 25,000 tuk tuk 5,000 indian 31,000 massage bus to Don Det 30,000 boat 20,000 meal (noodle soup and lao lao mojito) 20,000 shower gel 20,000 shampoo 10,000.