Touring Laos

Annoyed by the delay of the flight, we still expected to catch a bus for a lower price. Since our arrival in Laos 10 days ago we have been very disappointed by this country. We had left Cambodia on Sunday, February 24th. We left at about 8 am from Bann Lung and after 2hour and a half in a minivan, 10 minutes boating and some more travel on minicaravan, we arrived at the border pass. Then another 30 minute on tuktuk and we board a small boat to get to Don Det, the first stopover in Laos.

Located in the south of Laos, Dondet is part of Si Phan Don( 4000 isles) right in the middle of the Mekong. We settled in a rural bungalow priced at 2 euro per night. There was a bed and a mosquito net. After a good shower, we put on some anti mosquito lotion and went for a walk on the bank of the Mekong where we enjoyed fantastic sunset. In the evening, the first Laos meal came along with a Laos speciality from chicken and some spring rollls.

On Monday, 25th, we rent a bicycle to get around the isle of Don Det and Don Kon another accessibel isle. We stopped at a cararact and finished our morning with a relaxing swim in the refreshing water. Then have lunch with fish on legumes and milk of coconut cooked in a lear of banana before taking a siesta on another beach . Siesta is irresistable because of unbearable heat. On the way back, we encounter many villagers, and adorable children. We met some Laotian speaking English and even a little French but these people worked in tourism. Talking to villager was very difficult because of the language barrier.

In the evening, we went to a party 100m from our guesthouse. It is in fact a small fete with stands of games, chows, music and a concert. Once year this fete is held in a view to raise mony for the monks. We didn't stay long there because the mix of noise was unbearable. On Tuesday, we went for a kayak. Accompanying us is a Dutch, an English and Flax and Helene, two nice French who we travelled together with during the past few days. On the way we passed some expresses and scenic spot. We enjoy watching the dolphin show, too.

On Wednesday, we left Don Det to go further north to Pakse. The journey is a little bit hard lasting for 3 dhours. We found Flax and Helen who were in the same kayak trips as us in the guesthouse. We spent the quiet midday there with nothing special to do. In the evening, four of us went to the downtown.( to be continued)