Friday 20th December, 2019 – Pakse
We crossed at the only international border with Laos in the north of Cambodia. A bit disorganised and we were sent to the wrong booth twice before finding our way to Customs on the Cambodian side. There, they tried to charge us 10 USD for releasing the car. We refused to pay and argued that we did not have to pay anything the first time we came out of Cambodia. They let us go…. Not much better on the Laos side, applied and paid for the visas but then wanted to charge us 2 USD each to apply the entry stamp in the passports. Again we argued and in the end we paid 1 USD each. Small amount but it is the principal… you are never far from a scam in this part of the world.
We drove straight to Pakse, where we looked for a supermarket. It has become almost impossible to find anything we can cook. Markets are fine for fresh fruit and vegetables but I cannot bring myself to buy meat there. Pakse is a sizeable town and we had high hopes. We saw a big shop with a”Supermarket” sign, only to be disappointed as there was nothing on the shelves we could use. ( mainly bulk drinks, noodles soups, long life milk and toiletries). We came out with eggs and bread (the latter also a rarity).
Saturday 21st December, 2019 – Tad Yuang Waterfall – Paksong – Laongam – Tat Lo
We are close to the Bolaven Plateau where the soil and elevation is suitable for coffee growing. We took the road towards Paksong and stopped at the Tad Yuang Waterfall. The site is popular with both the locals and tourists and has been developped so that you can find a restaurant, shop selling souvenirs and… you have to pay an entrance fee.
There are a succession of waterfalls on the way to Tat Lo and many tourists rent motorbikes to do what is known as the Loop.
We went to a see a plantation by the side of the road but it was no more than a coffee shop on the edge of coffee fields. After Paksong we took a small road which turned into a dirt road going through coffee fields and small villages where coffee beans were drying on tarpaulin outside. We noticed that the villages were tidier than in Cambodia with far less litter around and some houses had even a small vegetable patch in front of the house.
Sunday 22nd December, 2019
Stopped at Tat Lo last night, near another waterfall. Today continued on to Salavan then took a dirt road (Route 23). We had to go over lots of rickety wooden bridges where planks were broken or missing and at one point even had to go in the water and cross a fairly wide river, thankfully not too deep !
Monday 23rd December, 2019 – Thakhek – Nakai –
Tuesday 24th December, 2019 – Lak Sao – Tha Bak
On the way to Lak Sao, we passed a flooded forest covering a few square km, desolate and spooky with dead trees sticking out of the water.
At Tha Bak we took a ride in a “bomb boat”. The boats are made of huge missile-shaped drop tanks that carried fuel for jets operating overhead during the Vietnam war.
We ended the day admiring the sunset at a view point, recently renovated to offer zip-lining and a nice terrace and restaurant.
Wednesday 25th December, 2019 – Ventiane
Arrived in Ventiane mid afternoon. This is the capital but is not a huge city (just over 560,000people). We visited the city when we were in Laos before so we just relaxed, had a walk around the Night Market, walked down the Mekong and enjoyed french bread and croissants… a legacy of french colonialism.
