Vientiane or bust!
Well hello..!
I’m currently in Pakse, Laos, waiting the hours away until I can get on the overnight bus to Vientiane.
It’s currently pelting with rain, which is a nice change from intense sun (through the haze) and heat.
Laos is a stunning place, scenery-wise. The people seem lovely too, though they seem more than willing and able to take you (or moreso your wallet) for a ride. I’ve left my pack at the bus station, so am hoping it’s still there on my return…
So:
From Phnom Penh I made my way north to the border region, stayed overnight in Stueng Treng and crossed into Laos the next day.
I encountered the slimiest, dodgiest man in Stueng Treng (think that spelling is wrong), the kind who tried his hardest to get me to convert $200 US at 6150kip because you’d get less on the islands (exchange rate is currently 8550kip to the dollar). I humoured him and changed $10 so that I could by lunch in Laos.
Of course, they exchanged at 8200kip on the island.
The thing that slimey idiot forgets is that I am now going to write all about their guesthouse on TripAdvisor, telling people all about it!
I met a Dutch couple who fell for the scam too… They were not happy!
So, I headed into Laos and to the 4000 Islands, staying on Don Khon island. It was quiet and hot with no electricity bar from a generator from 6-11pm, and it was loooovely!!
I had to convince myself after a day that it was fine to do nothing!
And so I did. Stayed three nights, socialised, met lovely people, ate nice-yet-simple food.
I was on the quieter island (nearby Don Det was the so-called backpacker island, yet was nowhere near as nice accommodation) and there was a generally older tourist set there. Which I didn’t mind at all.
I befriended a lovely couple from my parent’s vintage, a Melbourne couple, who I think rather took me under their wing.
We shared several lovely meals and drinks, joined by other nice travellers.
Sadly, the bus trip from Don Kron to here, Pakse, was a complete shambles and Gayle and Derrick, the Melbourne couple, ended up on a different bus to me. The buses stopped at different places, so we got split up and this I was not able to say goodbye or pass on my details etc.
Gayle and Derricks house was miraculously saved from a firery destruction, and they’ve offered it up while away as housing for a family who lost their home. Humbling stuff.
Pakse is nothing extraordinary. Glad I’m moving on, besides which I want to get north ASAFP.
Oh, I’m writing this via WiFi on my phone too, so no photos to accompany the post.
I really didn’t take too many in Don Kron anyway, to be honest.
I shall mosey on for now. My apologies for not responding to mails at this point. I’ll try do so tomorrow in Vientiane or soon after in a northern town.
Take care, and thank you all for your well-wishes.
Scott
Xx
PS - for ease of use, if you need to or want to mail me, please use pduvphoto@gmail.com as it’s very hard to access my own server mail when there is no wifi and slow Internet.
Post-note:
Immediately after writing this blog post, I wandered back out onto the street, only to see Gayle and Derrick walking towards me. So we caught up again and swapped details.
Wonderful
I’m glad you saw them again. Always a great thing when you get a second chance at something like that
Hey did my text message ever come through Scotty?