Southern Laos - Laos part 4

Southern Laos

April 26^th

Well my travelling group had all broken up – most of them went on to Vietnam from Vientiane. However, I decided to continue traveling south in Laos. I wanted to see some cities more off the beaten track, and I also wanted to make the most of my visa. So on the morning of the 26^th, I checked out of my hostel, and caught a bus to Thakhek, a town about 330 km south-east on the Laotian-Thai border. The trip took about 5 hours – I think. I was on quite a nice tour bus, which was also mostly empty. So the ride was quite comfortable. I arrived in Thakhek in the late afternoon, and checked into a hotel in town. I then went for dinner in a local restaurant – had some peppery fried pork and Beer Lao (of course). Thakhek is literally across the river from Thailand, so I had phone reception for the first time in about 2 weeks. After dinner, I walked a little around town – the view of the river and the lights across the river was beautiful.

April 27^th

 

That morning I decided to explore the town. I wandered to the outskirts of town towards a market that was supposed to be interesting. The walk was nice – the town was very quiet and calm. Ahhhh. I waked through several temples I passed on the way. I eventually made it to the market and continued to wander. The market was not TOO exciting – although one lady was selling several species of frogs... for eating. Apparently, over-hunting is a large problem. Many people in the rural areas are very poor, so they will eat anything and everything they can catch. This includes frogs, birds (other than chicken and ducks), bats, snakes, and many other variety of small to mid-sized animal.

After the market, I walked back to my hotel. The weather was scorching hot: April is the hottest month of the year Thailand and Laos. I’ve never been so hot in my life as I have been in April in SE Asia. You can literally feel yourself baking in the sun. Most people do what they have to in the morning, hide in the afternoon, and come out again at night. So after a very hot and sweaty walk to back to the Mekong River, I found a place for lunch. I had some tasty Laotian food – similar to khao soi in Thailand. So, a type of crunchy yellow noodle with sauce, vegetables and a meat. Mmmmm. There were a few other Laotian men also having lunch, while watching Thai TV. Another thing that’s fantastic about traveling in Laos is that Laotian is very similar to Thai. Furthermore, most people watch Thai TV shows and listen to Thai music. So, I was able to communicate with the Thai I know – which got me farther than English would have for sure.

 Breakfast - mix between Vietnamese Pho and Thai Gwai Deaw

 The market

After lunch, I went to hide in my hotel for a while. It was too hot to function. My TV had BBC, so I watched the news for a few hours, haha. I eventually emerged for dinner – I went to a nice restaurant on the river. I had a nice but somewhat odd dish – it was like pork stew with herbs, and much dill. But it was tasty. I also watched the sunset. The sunsets on the Mekong are some of the absolute most beautiful I have ever seen. Amazing.

April 28^th

 

The next morning, I decided to move on to a town a couple hours south, Savannakhet. I caught a local bus from the station, and was on my way. The ride was fairly uneventful, and I arrived around noon. When I got to the centre of town, I discovered it was pretty much deserted. I found an area with a few hotels, but none of them had anyone at the front desk. Well, one had a man sleeping on a couple chairs pushed together in the lobby area. After wandering for a while to no avail, I decided to go try the sleeping-man hotel. When I walked in for the second time, the man was still asleep. So I tried to wake him up gracefully. After a few “excuse me”s, he woke up and kind of leaped off the chairs. They had a room so I checked in. 

In the afternoon, I walked around the town. There were a couple sights to see, so I went looking for them. There was a dinosaur museum – but it was closed. I wandered into a few of the temples, which were gorgeous. In one temple, Wat Xayaphoum I think, there was a monk sitting in the room with the Buddha statue. He asked me if I spoke Lao..Laotian... whatever, and I said I didn’t. So he then went on to talk about the history of the temple (I think)... In Lao. I kind of nodded and smiled for a while. It was still really neat. Then he gave me a orange and white woven bracelet. Pretty cool! In another temple, I stepped through the gate and was immediately beckoned over by a monk. He asked if we could talk for a while so he could practice his English. Also, very cool. On my way back to the hotel, I walked by the local Catholic Church, St Joseph’s or something. I stopped to take a picture, and was immediately photo-bombed by two young boys on their bicycles. It was hilarious/super cute. 

For dinner, I had another tasty Lao meal. I decided to get up early the next morning, and catch the international bus back to Thailand. So I went back to my hotel and read my book.

In conclusion, I loved Laos. It had everything I enjoy – natural beauty, culture, and history. And not a lot of idiot tourists everywhere. The people were also very friendly and helpful. It is a lovely country and I would love to go back one day. Maybe that will be the next place I go teach... We shall see!