Getting to Laos from Cambodia

When we left Cambodia we were packed into a minibus with more people on it than the seating arrangement allowed. Our bags had to be packed in near our feet, so no leg room unless you nursed your bag. The driving was pretty ordinary too. The driver seemed to want to start off in 3^rd gear, so after massively revving the engine, the car would crawl forward and stall. He did this about 5 times in a row – not sure why, as at other times he did use the lower gears. The other thing was that there seemed to be no easing on of the brakes. As an obstacle was approached, a violent braking occurred that made your whole body lurch forward in the seat.

At the border

As we went on, more people got off the bus, so we gained a bit of leg room, but it was a scorcher of a day, so I guess it is fair to say this trip was pretty unpleasant. We got to the Laos border and had to walk with our packs a couple of hundred meters across the border between the Cambodian exit point and the Lao entry point.

We were met at the border in a modern, comfortable, air conditioned mini-van, with enough space for all of us. The van was beautifully cool and had good music playing loudly and clearly on the sound system. Welcome to Laos! After about 10 kames we got to our boat that took us to an area known as 4000 Islands, on the Mekong River. 

We stayed on Don Det, one of the 4000 islands where there is a small tourist village.

Kim and Caroline + beerlao

On the bus we met another Australian tourist, called Caroline, an archeologist from Queensland. She was travelling alone. She liked a beer and was friendly and down-to-earth and we spent a bit of time with her for the next few days. Normally we don’t associate much with, if not avoid Australians, while travelling. Because, beyond the normal stereotyping of Tasmanians that mainlanders seem obsessed with, Aussies are often as loud as Americans are – “Aussies are the new Seppos”. Besides that, we like to experience different cultures while away. But Caroline sort of reminded us that Aussies were OK after all, and that you could share humour and thoughts about home easily, without having to repeat simple words all the time, just to be understood.

Satellite dish in traditional village

While on the island we took a kayak tour on the Mekong. Along the way we saw some villages that would have looked traditional if it were not for the large satellite dishes that you see everywhere in the back yards. I guess you need something to get good reception on the large flat panel TVs though. 

It's not easy being green

We also saw some waterfalls that would have been pristine if it were not for the plastic and rubbish swirling around the bottom. We did see some fresh water dolphins though, but that took some patience as we had to wait a long time sitting in kayaks, maybe ½ an hour, before we saw our first one.

Khon Phapheng Falls

Here Kim and I were reminded that our age was catching up with us. Every time we set off on the kayaks every other person in our group always overtook us and we always came last, no matter how much we tried. Strangely, we would see others in kayaks not even paddling and when we paddled hard could not even gain any ground on them. It didn’t make sense, but that’s how it was, a little dispiriting.

Still, the scenery was  nice and we probably needed the exercise. The island was quiet. The people on it were very laid back and didn't hassle us to buy things at all, if anything they almost completely ignored us. It was good to just relax after so much time on the road. 4000 Islands was probably my favourite place visited so far, and if I get the chance I would come back here for sure.