Sabaidi (Goodbye) to Laos

Well, we left Vientaine (the capital) on a VIP night bus for the 12 hour (667 km) overnight trip that actually took 14 hours to reach Pakse – the term VIP should be taken with a very large ‘pinch of salt’ if you travel in Laos.

Following the bus journey we transferred to a minivan and travelled a further 150 kms to our final destination in the very south of Laos, where we have just completed 7 days in the ‘4,000 islands’. This is basically a group of islands located in the middle of the Mekong River.

As we’ve just completed 6 months of travelling (on 19 June), we felt we needed to re-charge our batteries so this was an ideal location. The only thing in the rural community are a few guesthouses, food shops and Laos cafe’s – that included lie down beds to chill out on!! So we jumped into a small ‘fish-tail’ boat and crossed the 1.5 km stretch of the Mekong River, walked 400 metres and we arrived at Sunset Ois Guesthouse, which sits right on the river, and we stayed in a hut with a double bed, hammock and a fan (to keep us cool – so no a/c).  Mainly our days were spent lazing around, in cafes/bars and watching the local Laos going about their daily chores. One thing that did make us laugh was there is no age limit for motorbikes – the basic rule is if you can reach the controls you’re ‘good to go!!!.

However, we did take bikes across to the next island (Don Khone) to view the Tad Somphamit waterfalls https://youtube.com/shorts/lyM4RNS42T4?feature=share and https://youtube.com/shorts/gidqjsd8lG4?feature=share.  The locals believe these raging rapids trap the bad spirits of dead people and animals. Whilst over on the other island we came across a connecting bridge which was ‘under maintenance’ and for once we decided not to risk crossing it – although locals were doing so (only carrying one bag at a time).

Our last day in Laos was spent in Pakse, before we travelled to Vang Tao and crossed the Laos border back into Thailand. This ‘border crossing’ resulted in us being granted a 15 day visa, that would enable us to make our way over the next 2 weeks to Bangkok – where we catch a plane to Taiwan to see Bex on 1 July.

Final thoughts on Lao, it is a beautiful (and impoverished) country that has not been spoilt by tourism – there are some frustrating points where locals make money, such as transportation finishes in locations forcing you to use TukTuk’s, etc. This isn’t a big issue when you realise and see the living standards in the cities and rural communities, it’s life.