Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
It Only Gets Hotter Down South!
And we decided to visit the south of Laos! (In retrospect, if you are planning on visiting and don’t have much time – it’s probably not worth it unless it is the wet season or you have time to waste.)
The first time on a sleeper-bus was surprisingly not a bad experience. Henk and I lucked out by getting assigned the very front top ‘bunks’ and as a result had extra space and leg-room. As we waited for departure, we explored our surroundings: two large nice blankets, two pillows, and snacks brought to us by the bus company. Not bad! Since we had taken the liberty of bringing our own food as well, this now meant we had a large stockpile in case the trip took longer than expected. We snacked on our food, tried to ignore the rocking of the bus, and watched a movie about the mysterious ‘Naga fireball’ called 'Mehkong Full Moon Party.'
While the bunk was spacious for me, it was still on the small side for Henk. As a result, he was awake through the night while I was able to score some needed hours of sleep. Once we arrived in Pakse on March 21st, we caught a ride to the Phonsavan Guesthouse (we had told the driver the Phonsavan Hotel which is a different place, but this one turned out to be alright) where we immediately crashed and gained another few hours of sleep.
At around 1:30 PM we headed out to explore Pakse. Quite a small town, there wasn’t much to do and very quickly we had seen everything including an abandoned shopping mall that had been turned into a local market. We found a temple to explore and a great Indian (yes, again!) restaurant for dinner called Delicious butter chicken!
The next morning we were woken up by a knocking on our door. The previous day, Henk and I had been inquiring about a trip out to Wat Phu; a temple built by the Khmers before they went to Siem Reap and built Angkor Wat. The travel agent had come to us to inform us that we could go on the trip for the price we wanted, so we got ready to leave and met our group down at the agency’s office. We drove towards the ancient Wat, having to cross on a ferry part-way through the trip. Henk got out of the car to take some photos of the Laos fish-catching method, pointing out to me the fish flopping around in the water. He also went to buy me a bag of chips which he ended up purchasing from a cute little girl whose mother sent her over directly to Henk with (strangely enough!) the only bag of my favorite flavor. How did she know?
Anyways, we arrived at Wat Phu and WOW it was so hot in the south! Before we even reached the base of the temple we were covered in sweat. I held the little map/guidebook which explained to us this temple was built for worshipping the linga: a representation of the Hindu god Shiva – its ‘representation’ has commonly been thought of as ‘phallic representation’ but this idea is still debatable. I described the complex from the book as we walked through a pathway lined with lingas, and we started to see the main area of the temple which was under some heavy re-construction. Might be better to go in a couple years once it’s done!
From the Wiki: “Wat Phu is a ruined Khmer temple complex in southern Laos. It is located at the base of mount Phu Kao, some 6 km from the Mekong river in Champasak province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries. The temple has a unique structure, in which the elements lead to a shrine where a linga was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a center of Theravada Buddhist worship, which it remains today.”
As we continued, we climbed and climbed. The complex was pretty large, but so much in shambles that it was difficult to picture the full design. At the top was a rock-face that dripped water – it was originally flowing with water -- which helped mark this place as a religious site. After visiting the temple, we spent some time in a museum which explained the divinities worshipped at the temple. Because they are some of the same ones we will talk about for Angkor Wat, I’ll leave the explanations until then.
On the 23rd of March we planned to leave for 4000 islands. Henk ordered some tuna baguettes for us and feasted on noodle soup for breakfast while I finalized our trip arrangements down to Don Det, one of the 3 islands to choose from. Then we jumped in the bus and away we went! The ride down was pretty quick, only taking about 2 hours. Since we couldn’t really decide which island to jump off at even after tons of research, we ended up going with Don Det which was described as the ‘backpacker/party’ island. The island was supposedly connected to Don Khone which was slightly more expensive but calmer, and we thought we’d be able to travel in between the two quite easily.
Well, 4000 islands was not really what we expected it to be at all! Don’t believe any of the information out there because most of it is pretty misleading. While the river was nice and the boat ride to the islands IS scenic, there was really no reason to stay on Don Det. It was virtually impossible with huge bags to get to Don Khone and we didn’t find Don Det very appealing at all – not even as a party destination! The whole island was covered in trash and seemed void of life despite the locals all running guesthouses or bars trying to make a few bucks. It was waaay too hot to lounge and relax outside and the river looked too nasty to swim or tube around in. Plus since the river was too low, no rafting was available, and while not very expensive the boat trips/fishing trips weren’t cheap either; there was a serious lack of competition being on such a small island. Perhaps Don Khong is nicer, but we heard it was even more expensive and still had the same scenery/activities… not worth our time!
We found a cheap fan room at Mr Tho’s Bungalows, ate some Indian dinner (even on the smallest remote island in Asia there is still Indian food available!) and planned to leave for Kratie the next day. Let’s go to Cambodia!
It was quite a mission for us to get across the Laos/Cambodian border, despite the fact that we pre-arranged everything in advance. The company we booked our van through didn’t show up when they were supposed to, in fact they left without us, so we were told we’d be required to take motorcycle-taxis to the border. With our huge backpacks and other bags we jumped on them for a 30 minute ride to the border (which terrifies me because I’m freaked out by anything where I feel unstable like that) where we then saw four different groups of “passport stampers” waiting for us. Of course, we then had to pay ‘fees’ to all of them before our visas were issued and we got into our taxi for Kratie. However little did we know we wouldn’t be able to relax just yet… before the 4-5 hour drive to Kratie was over we had to change mini-vans 4 times due to drivers shuffling us around!
By the time we arrived in Kratie we were quite exhausted, finding a guesthouse (You Hong II) with some refreshing AC around 4:00 PM. Since we were out of cash we headed out to the ATM and explored town for a while before heading for dinner at Star Guesthouse’s downstairs cafe. We planned to see the famous Irrawaddy Dolphins the next morning.
The dolphins are endangered and there are only a handful left in the Mekong River. Tourists are allowed to buy a boat ticket out to see them in order to raise money for their conservation. A little about the dolphins: Irrawaddy dolphins don’t have a traditional dolphin “beak” and instead have a high and round forehead. They communicate with ‘clicks’ and survive on a diet of boney fish and fish eggs. While they are found in Laos, the most common spot for them is actually in the waters around Bangladesh.
Here’s something interesting from the Wiki on how smart these dolphins are:
“In Myanmar, in the upper reaches of the Ayeyawady River, Irrawaddy dolphins drive fish towards fishers using cast nets in response to acoustic signals from them. In return, the Dolphins are rewarded with some of the fishers' by-catch. Historically, Irrawaddy River fishers claimed that particular dolphins were associated with individual fishing villages and chased fish into their nets. A 1879 report indicates that legal claims were frequently brought into native courts by fishers to recover a share of the fish from the nets of a rival fisher which the plaintiffs dolphin was claimed to have helped fill.”
During the dry season the dolphins become confined to a few pools in the Mekong where they are easy to spot. However, since they usually don’t come above the water very far they are still extremely difficult to get a good picture of. In the hour we had on the boat we only managed to catch the back and a couple fins of the dolphins. But we found great pictures from professionals online to show you that fill the gap!
We finished before noon and were able to relax on some lounge chairs outside of Star where we ordered lunch and watched the locals doing their grocery shopping. One of the strange things we noticed about many Cambodian locals, especially the women and young children of both genders, is that they often dress in clothing that looks very close to Western ‘pajamas:’ loose, patterned with flowers or stripes, and complete with long sleeves, pants, and collars. Henk took a picture of one woman on a bike in pajamas. If anyone knows why they wear pajamas please let us know. We’ve asked locals but they don’t seem to understand what we’re talking about!
On the 27th of March we took the bus to Siem Reap to get ready for the grand Angkor Wat! Going by the Lonely Planet we found Shadow of Angkor II. While a bit pricey, the rooms are very nice and the room service extremely cheap! We were quite amazed to order two entrees, an appetizer, and drinks for just $10 USD to our room!! A luxury we have missed on this trip otherwise. Anyways, I’ll let Henk now tell you about our first days in Siem Reap!
Francesca
The first time on a sleeper-bus was surprisingly not a bad experience. Henk and I lucked out by getting assigned the very front top ‘bunks’ and as a result had extra space and leg-room. As we waited for departure, we explored our surroundings: two large nice blankets, two pillows, and snacks brought to us by the bus company. Not bad! Since we had taken the liberty of bringing our own food as well, this now meant we had a large stockpile in case the trip took longer than expected. We snacked on our food, tried to ignore the rocking of the bus, and watched a movie about the mysterious ‘Naga fireball’ called 'Mehkong Full Moon Party.'
While the bunk was spacious for me, it was still on the small side for Henk. As a result, he was awake through the night while I was able to score some needed hours of sleep. Once we arrived in Pakse on March 21st, we caught a ride to the Phonsavan Guesthouse (we had told the driver the Phonsavan Hotel which is a different place, but this one turned out to be alright) where we immediately crashed and gained another few hours of sleep.
At around 1:30 PM we headed out to explore Pakse. Quite a small town, there wasn’t much to do and very quickly we had seen everything including an abandoned shopping mall that had been turned into a local market. We found a temple to explore and a great Indian (yes, again!) restaurant for dinner called Delicious butter chicken!
The next morning we were woken up by a knocking on our door. The previous day, Henk and I had been inquiring about a trip out to Wat Phu; a temple built by the Khmers before they went to Siem Reap and built Angkor Wat. The travel agent had come to us to inform us that we could go on the trip for the price we wanted, so we got ready to leave and met our group down at the agency’s office. We drove towards the ancient Wat, having to cross on a ferry part-way through the trip. Henk got out of the car to take some photos of the Laos fish-catching method, pointing out to me the fish flopping around in the water. He also went to buy me a bag of chips which he ended up purchasing from a cute little girl whose mother sent her over directly to Henk with (strangely enough!) the only bag of my favorite flavor. How did she know?
Anyways, we arrived at Wat Phu and WOW it was so hot in the south! Before we even reached the base of the temple we were covered in sweat. I held the little map/guidebook which explained to us this temple was built for worshipping the linga: a representation of the Hindu god Shiva – its ‘representation’ has commonly been thought of as ‘phallic representation’ but this idea is still debatable. I described the complex from the book as we walked through a pathway lined with lingas, and we started to see the main area of the temple which was under some heavy re-construction. Might be better to go in a couple years once it’s done!
From the Wiki: “Wat Phu is a ruined Khmer temple complex in southern Laos. It is located at the base of mount Phu Kao, some 6 km from the Mekong river in Champasak province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries. The temple has a unique structure, in which the elements lead to a shrine where a linga was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a center of Theravada Buddhist worship, which it remains today.”
As we continued, we climbed and climbed. The complex was pretty large, but so much in shambles that it was difficult to picture the full design. At the top was a rock-face that dripped water – it was originally flowing with water -- which helped mark this place as a religious site. After visiting the temple, we spent some time in a museum which explained the divinities worshipped at the temple. Because they are some of the same ones we will talk about for Angkor Wat, I’ll leave the explanations until then.
On the 23rd of March we planned to leave for 4000 islands. Henk ordered some tuna baguettes for us and feasted on noodle soup for breakfast while I finalized our trip arrangements down to Don Det, one of the 3 islands to choose from. Then we jumped in the bus and away we went! The ride down was pretty quick, only taking about 2 hours. Since we couldn’t really decide which island to jump off at even after tons of research, we ended up going with Don Det which was described as the ‘backpacker/party’ island. The island was supposedly connected to Don Khone which was slightly more expensive but calmer, and we thought we’d be able to travel in between the two quite easily.
Well, 4000 islands was not really what we expected it to be at all! Don’t believe any of the information out there because most of it is pretty misleading. While the river was nice and the boat ride to the islands IS scenic, there was really no reason to stay on Don Det. It was virtually impossible with huge bags to get to Don Khone and we didn’t find Don Det very appealing at all – not even as a party destination! The whole island was covered in trash and seemed void of life despite the locals all running guesthouses or bars trying to make a few bucks. It was waaay too hot to lounge and relax outside and the river looked too nasty to swim or tube around in. Plus since the river was too low, no rafting was available, and while not very expensive the boat trips/fishing trips weren’t cheap either; there was a serious lack of competition being on such a small island. Perhaps Don Khong is nicer, but we heard it was even more expensive and still had the same scenery/activities… not worth our time!
We found a cheap fan room at Mr Tho’s Bungalows, ate some Indian dinner (even on the smallest remote island in Asia there is still Indian food available!) and planned to leave for Kratie the next day. Let’s go to Cambodia!
It was quite a mission for us to get across the Laos/Cambodian border, despite the fact that we pre-arranged everything in advance. The company we booked our van through didn’t show up when they were supposed to, in fact they left without us, so we were told we’d be required to take motorcycle-taxis to the border. With our huge backpacks and other bags we jumped on them for a 30 minute ride to the border (which terrifies me because I’m freaked out by anything where I feel unstable like that) where we then saw four different groups of “passport stampers” waiting for us. Of course, we then had to pay ‘fees’ to all of them before our visas were issued and we got into our taxi for Kratie. However little did we know we wouldn’t be able to relax just yet… before the 4-5 hour drive to Kratie was over we had to change mini-vans 4 times due to drivers shuffling us around!
By the time we arrived in Kratie we were quite exhausted, finding a guesthouse (You Hong II) with some refreshing AC around 4:00 PM. Since we were out of cash we headed out to the ATM and explored town for a while before heading for dinner at Star Guesthouse’s downstairs cafe. We planned to see the famous Irrawaddy Dolphins the next morning.
The dolphins are endangered and there are only a handful left in the Mekong River. Tourists are allowed to buy a boat ticket out to see them in order to raise money for their conservation. A little about the dolphins: Irrawaddy dolphins don’t have a traditional dolphin “beak” and instead have a high and round forehead. They communicate with ‘clicks’ and survive on a diet of boney fish and fish eggs. While they are found in Laos, the most common spot for them is actually in the waters around Bangladesh.
Here’s something interesting from the Wiki on how smart these dolphins are:
“In Myanmar, in the upper reaches of the Ayeyawady River, Irrawaddy dolphins drive fish towards fishers using cast nets in response to acoustic signals from them. In return, the Dolphins are rewarded with some of the fishers' by-catch. Historically, Irrawaddy River fishers claimed that particular dolphins were associated with individual fishing villages and chased fish into their nets. A 1879 report indicates that legal claims were frequently brought into native courts by fishers to recover a share of the fish from the nets of a rival fisher which the plaintiffs dolphin was claimed to have helped fill.”
During the dry season the dolphins become confined to a few pools in the Mekong where they are easy to spot. However, since they usually don’t come above the water very far they are still extremely difficult to get a good picture of. In the hour we had on the boat we only managed to catch the back and a couple fins of the dolphins. But we found great pictures from professionals online to show you that fill the gap!
We finished before noon and were able to relax on some lounge chairs outside of Star where we ordered lunch and watched the locals doing their grocery shopping. One of the strange things we noticed about many Cambodian locals, especially the women and young children of both genders, is that they often dress in clothing that looks very close to Western ‘pajamas:’ loose, patterned with flowers or stripes, and complete with long sleeves, pants, and collars. Henk took a picture of one woman on a bike in pajamas. If anyone knows why they wear pajamas please let us know. We’ve asked locals but they don’t seem to understand what we’re talking about!
On the 27th of March we took the bus to Siem Reap to get ready for the grand Angkor Wat! Going by the Lonely Planet we found Shadow of Angkor II. While a bit pricey, the rooms are very nice and the room service extremely cheap! We were quite amazed to order two entrees, an appetizer, and drinks for just $10 USD to our room!! A luxury we have missed on this trip otherwise. Anyways, I’ll let Henk now tell you about our first days in Siem Reap!
Francesca
1 Comments:
Hallo, Nou ik heb weer een prachtig verhaal van Francesca gelezen. Jij vraagt waarom de vrouwen daar in pyama,s rond fietsen. Dat probeer ik op te zoeken en dan hoor je het. Francesca ik heb weer een mooie foto van jou als achtergrond. Veel liefs Oma
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