Vientiene, despite being the capitol of Laos was rather unremarkable. For me Laos has been more about the people and the natural sites versus the cities themselves, and Vientiene was no exception. It' perhaps the most westernized city here, so only warranted a couple days while we biked around town to see the major temple sites. We did have the good fortune of meeting a very well spoken young Buddhist monk, who explained to us his daily routine and the different temple features. Most monks have been shy or haven't had the chance to learn English yet since they started becoming a monk so early. At 22 he had already been a monk for 6 years, eating only 2 meals a day. These meals are breakfast and lunch, both provided by donations from the local people as the monks walk the streets in the early morning hours. We were able to witness this and the morning sunrise after scheduling a night bus south to Pakse:
The bus arrived halfway in Savannakhet at 4:30 in the morning, only after breaking down at 2:30am. I got in some unexpected late night exercise helping to transfer the luggage from one bus to another.
Pakse itself turned out to be rather average as well, but made for a good spot to explore the surrounding areas which included immense waterfalls, coffee/tea fields, villages, and ancient Khmer ruins.
The coffee here is stellar. They make black coffee so dark and almost syrupy, that it sticks to the glass like molasses. It's just the morning remedy after a night of BeerLao and Tiger whisky, and beats the Nescafe they serve all over Thailand in too small cups.
The next step was Si Phon Dhon, or 4,000 islands, where I am at now, just on the border of Cambodia. To get here, we were dropped off on the side of the main road to wave down an open truck. We were packed in with locals, cement, food and luggage. The rice bags we sat on served as fine pillows, but hanging off the back of the truck was often the preferred choice for some air and a good view.
We've been hanging out here for the past few nights, just enjoying the water and the scenery. The peace is welcomed.
Nearby these kids were catching and literally blowing up blowfish with straws:
Tonight there seems to be a huge celebration for a local hero, and the music stage is conveniently located just behind our guesthouse. We're leaving for Cambodia tomorrow morning at 8am on an 8-hour bus ride, so I may do as the locals tonight and dance this night away...
oooh, your hair is getting long. I was expecting a huge hippie beard to go along :( the third picture from the bottom is realllly pretty btw.
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