Laos Update - Today Pakse, tomorrow Cambodia!

14 November 07
Pakse Hotel
We've returned from the land of 4000 islands, the deepest south of Laos, on the border with Cambodia, where the Mekong shatters along the floodplain into tons of little islands. On the way down, we had an amazing visit to Wat Phou, a 10th century Khmer temple at the foot of a mountain crowned by a rock formation that looks like a Shivalingua. The sun beat down on us as we climbed and explored, and our local guide was totally useless, but the trek through the tiny temple and among the ruins was pretty amazing. This was just the first Khmer ruin along the Mekong valley all the way to Angkor which is our destination tomorrow morning. Other highlights of the past few days:

• The ultra scary ferry to Wat Phou. Three barges with a wooden deck. 6 or 9 vehicles, and Lao ladies coming on board with a pot of soup and veggies feeding drivers on the way across. Dishwashing? Done in the river. Ew.


• Watching thunderheads light up the sky downriver while eating dinner outside.


• Another Iron-butt Survivor challege: a slow boat to Don Khon and Don Det. 1.5 hours down, 2..5 hours up sitting on a 1 by 4 with a lawnmower engine pushing the boat.


• Waving back at countless kids on the shores of the islands while floating along.


• Swimming in the Mekong at Don Khon.


• Finding another Shivalingua behind the Wat at Don Khon.


• Telling the guide we were taking a shortcut that he didn't know about.


• Having dinner with Malcolm and Veronica, a well-traveled older British couple we'd met at Wat Phou, and who had some outrageous stories. These old farts have been travelling Laos like backpackers, which is something to admire. We were going to the temple in a minivan, and the two of them were bouncing around in the back of a tuk-tuk.


• Our driver nearly falling asleep at the wheel on the way back to Pakse.


• Seeing more Khmer ruins in the forest at Oum Muang and recognizing some of the carvings as similar to Wat Phou. This was a fantastic site under a canopy of trees where time and nature have been reclaiming the stones, aided I'm sure by people that have made off with most of the carvings long ago.


• Finally telling the guide we've had enough of the modern temples. We brought the ABC tour to an abrupt end.

We've retreated to the air-conditioned confines of the hotel room for Wednesday afternoon as splash and dash showers come off the plateau through town. We've seen some amazing things, but I think we are both a bit road weary at the moment.

Photos:
Us with the staff at Pha Souam "Resort", Nov 10.
David on his 110cc scooter somewhere, Nov 10.
Chaz at Wat Phou, Nov 13.
Scary Ferry at Wat Phou, Nov 13.