Well, the days of mindless travelling is definitely over! Went out for dinner last night and got lost on the way home... 'Usually' I would just have hailed a Tuktuk or something like it, but the city seemed absolutely devoid of anything moving in fact (No people, only dogs in packs, friendly enough, but not fit to point me in any direction ... I headed down to the The Mekong, knowing I would be able to make it from there... And lo and behold... It seemed like the town had gathered in the countless shack-bars on the river... and they were having a ball, drinking BeerLao ( The local beer) and having a Karaoke night out under the moon (Full?) And closer to home at the northern bus station... It was the kids having a disco.....
In my colossal french room I lit a tea candle (Which I had 'borrowed' from The Ei8ht rooms in Siam Reap) for Amadeu and slept blissfully until the backyard cock woke me up at crack at dawn....
Decided to go to " 4 thousand islands" south on the Mekong, right next to the Cambodian border... So I got a "Jumbo" ( A flatbed truck with two rows of seats) and asked him to take me to the southern bus station... On the way he suddenly turned around and went into a, I don't really know, but it looked like a garage of some sort... I kindly asked him to take me to the bus and after a rather heated exchange of words, he finally agreed... But looking really cross and waving his finger at me in the rear window mirror....
Then I found another 'Jumbo' going to Don Khong.... and then I waited... It wont leave until it's full and by this I mean full!!!! On top, inside and outside.... Build up with 50 kg's of sacks containing ? , suitcases, children, old women, 'two cool guys' ( Who then proceeded to eat the whole 3 (?) hrs.. (I've lost my watch weeks ago) workers and me.... We all had a lot to carry... Some more than others! I would have loved to take some photos, but it didn't seem right.. being so close together.... Especially an old granny with her grandchild, going to market in Don Khong with 5 sacks of cauliflower and the kid ( 8-9 years old) with wide open eyes as seeing this side of the world for the first time...! He was sporting, proudly; the dirtiest t-shirt and what used to be a red/white "Hugo" cap - Which the Danes will find hilarious... Don't know about the rest of the world... Granny had chewed so much Betel, that most of her teeth had gone, and what's left were this deep, deep red. But still wearing the exquisite silk sarong and some lovely golden earrings, in the shape of a lotus........
Great trip though... The road is fairly new and almost deserted, apart from the cows and the goats, they seem to favor the middle of the tarmac for standing, doing nothing!
After a small 'ferry' trip to the biggest island in the "4 thousand island" area.... I was dropped of in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere.... I started to walk down to the river and found a guy sitting under a tree, next to a boat... So I sorta thought, that he would take me to Don Det, where I was trying to go.... But after asking a price of 20$ for the trip ( The 129 km bus ride costs 5$) I tried to appeal to some humanity in a nearby guesthouse... Neither the waiter or the tourist there, could be bothered to even answer me... Okay, so I went back to the first one... and after a lot of haggling around - it was still pouring, you see- I finally caved in to this horrendous price, all account of me being on my own!- more people= better price.. This goes for hotel rooms as well, as you pay per room, not per person!)... Now I had caved in, I thought we would be going, but then he said that the boat was full of water.. and therefore it was a no go! I nearly lost it then.... And I would had started to cry, like a baby, if it wasn't for the outrageousness in the situation... I finally found a guy, willing to take me to the village of Ban Nakasang on a motorbike... It did end up costing me another 100.000 Kip! ( Laos money 1$= 8.000 kip) After a great cup of coffee ( Man!! Laos produce some really fine coffee!!!!) He took me 29 km the other way , back on the mainland..... The whole problem being; I got a truck to Don Khong instead of Don Khon.....! Me (Again) not looking clearly at a map, before hopping on the truck... And then made my mind up of which island to go to.... on the way!
After a delightful longboat ride to Don Det... I'm now here, they only just installed electricty and the place is very, very small! But beautiful green island in the middle of the Mekong river... Got me a room at 'Mama's guesthouse on the river.. (Think it's the sunrise side....!) I 'll stay here for a couple of rainy days...But going on the internet it extremely costly, so I'll write again, when back in Pakse on the way to Tat Loe on the Plateau!
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