I left the 4000 Islands, lovely as they were for Pakse. It had what the islands didn't namely an ATM and decently priced internet. Not a very romantic reason to move on but there you go. Pakse doesn't have much in terms of sights but is more of a jumping off point for places like Champasak and the Bolevan Plateau. The maxi bus (bigger than a mini bus but smaller than a coach - not the official term, just my interpretation) from the islands to Pakse was relatively uneventful. Even though the roads are good for some reason the speed limit is quite low so it takes forever to get anywhere. More of that story later. I booked into one of the most interesting hotels I've stayed in so far. The Hotel Salachampa is an old French villa and the room was a huge suite with beautiful heavy wooden furniture. It looked like the kind of room Ernest Hemmingway might have written in. In between doing practical stuff I hired a bike and had a good tour around. I headed to the Historical Museum and while at first glance it was predominately photographs and charts with a scattering of objects it was quite an interesting insight particularly into modern Laos history. Also did a must do in Pakse which is breakfast noodle soup from the Lankam Hotel - delicious!
So practicalities done I doubled back south to Champasak to see Wat Phou, an Ankorian era temple. By good fortune I arrived in the middle of a three day Buddist festival at the site. Equally lucky was my ability to get a room! Champasak is not a very prepossessing place with no decent places to stay or eat but it is right on the Mekong so the sunsets are 
gorgeous. I arrived at 9am from Pakse so by 10 I was on a bike (a slighly better adjusted but still single speed number) and rode the 10kms to the temple. The traffic was constant with sangthews full of people coming and going. After paying my 5000 kip bike toll I headed through the gates to join the hoards of people heading for the mountain. At the base a big market with food tents and stages for entertainment had been set up - I even saw a boxing ring which I later found out would host Thai boxing in the evening. Streams of people swarmed past the lower ruins and up the stairs to to upper temples bringing offerings of insence and flowers. Monks chanted and families picniced as the the smoke from thousands of sticks of incence sent a cloud of perfumed smoke over the mountain. (Sorry, that prose was a bit purple but it really was amazing!) I had a lunch of noodle soup within sight of the lower temples fully aware that this experience is only available a few days a year.
gorgeous. I arrived at 9am from Pakse so by 10 I was on a bike (a slighly better adjusted but still single speed number) and rode the 10kms to the temple. The traffic was constant with sangthews full of people coming and going. After paying my 5000 kip bike toll I headed through the gates to join the hoards of people heading for the mountain. At the base a big market with food tents and stages for entertainment had been set up - I even saw a boxing ring which I later found out would host Thai boxing in the evening. Streams of people swarmed past the lower ruins and up the stairs to to upper temples bringing offerings of insence and flowers. Monks chanted and families picniced as the the smoke from thousands of sticks of incence sent a cloud of perfumed smoke over the mountain. (Sorry, that prose was a bit purple but it really was amazing!) I had a lunch of noodle soup within sight of the lower temples fully aware that this experience is only available a few days a year. The next day I decided to head all the way to Savannaket, from where I would cross into Vietnam. I took a sangthew from Champasak to Pakse. One thing I didn't note is that Champasak is on the opposite side of the river to the main highway. To get across there are these amazing ferry contraptions which look like 2 canoes lashed together with a platform in the middle but on a massive scale. The one I was on held two sangthews, a mini bus and a ute. So over the river and an hour to Pakse brought me to the bus sta
tion to catch my bus to Savannahket. My only option was to catch one of the local, slow, non airconditioned buses that leave every hour. I know I might sound like a bit of a princess here but 6 HOURS to go 230 KILOMETERS on good road??!!! WTF? Carrying rice bags, chickens and god knows what else, stopping every 5 minutes to pick up and drop off and then the lack of a speed limit over 50 - christ! Yes its all part of the joys of travel (and would be repeated on the bus to Vietnam) but it doesn't half make me grumpy! I was not finding the love in southern Laos. And Savannahket wasn't any different. As soon as I arrived I wanted to leave. But given enough time it revealed some charms as Pakse did. Namely the Dinosaur Museum. Yes, you read that right. In the 1930's a French paleontologist disovered 4 species of dinosaurs in the region. Its a typical regional museum with dusty display cases and basically labelled (mostly in French) specimens. But the staff were so enthusastic, proudly showing me each object and the rest of the museum and even let visitors hold a dinosaur bone (about which I felt equally guilty and chuffed!). The outline of biggest of the specimens was done in coloured lights! Such a singular experience! Unfortuately things went a bit down hill when I got bed bugs on my first night which made me a bit miserable. Then it was time to leave Laos. I'll probably head back after a few weeks in Vietnam and fly to the north but for now it was time for Vietnam.
tion to catch my bus to Savannahket. My only option was to catch one of the local, slow, non airconditioned buses that leave every hour. I know I might sound like a bit of a princess here but 6 HOURS to go 230 KILOMETERS on good road??!!! WTF? Carrying rice bags, chickens and god knows what else, stopping every 5 minutes to pick up and drop off and then the lack of a speed limit over 50 - christ! Yes its all part of the joys of travel (and would be repeated on the bus to Vietnam) but it doesn't half make me grumpy! I was not finding the love in southern Laos. And Savannahket wasn't any different. As soon as I arrived I wanted to leave. But given enough time it revealed some charms as Pakse did. Namely the Dinosaur Museum. Yes, you read that right. In the 1930's a French paleontologist disovered 4 species of dinosaurs in the region. Its a typical regional museum with dusty display cases and basically labelled (mostly in French) specimens. But the staff were so enthusastic, proudly showing me each object and the rest of the museum and even let visitors hold a dinosaur bone (about which I felt equally guilty and chuffed!). The outline of biggest of the specimens was done in coloured lights! Such a singular experience! Unfortuately things went a bit down hill when I got bed bugs on my first night which made me a bit miserable. Then it was time to leave Laos. I'll probably head back after a few weeks in Vietnam and fly to the north but for now it was time for Vietnam.
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