From not so easy rider to easy rider
Friday, January 23, 2009
Greetings from Don Khong (Southern Laos)
When we said Laos is relaxed, Don Khong is the ultimate in relaxed. Don Khong makes Ghandi look like Idi Amin. We found a place that has internet here so we thought we'd let you know what's going on!
On our last day in Vientiane we visited the Buddha Park: A very strange garden filled with statues of both Buddhist and Hindu gods. Vishna can be seen next to the Buddha of compassion and all this is in front of a huge 3 floor concrete pumpkin symbolising hell, earth and heaven (You can climb to the top of it, which we of course did).
The next day (after stocking up on books) we took a night sleeper bus from Vientiane to Pakse. The bus left in the evening and arrived the next day in Pakse (at 6 am). The inner design was very intereting. Instead of two seats next to each other, there was a double bed (single bed by european standards) for us to "sleep" in... we did not sleep. Completely exhausted we quickly found a cheap guesthouse with TV so that we would be able to see the Obama Inauguration. 
We had just sat down for breakfast (with a long nap in mind) when some backpackers from the US and Israel asked us if we wanted to join them on a one day trip around the Bolaven Plateau. We accepted. The tour was great! We visited three waterfalls, coffee and tea plantations and drove through several small villages. We got to swim in 2 of the waterfalls much to the amusement of the locals who were enjoying their late lunch. I was the first in the cold water and the locals were chearing me on. After the rest of us crazy falangs were in the locals jumped in with all their clothes on. After our dip we saw the case of beer lao the locals had with them, we asked if we could buy one or two but they refused, instead we were given 3 beers as a gift for showing them a great time. Apparantely they would never have dared jumping in if we hadn't done it first. After and during the beers we all had to pose for photos with everyone of the locals :) In the evening we had some more beers with the guys on our tour and watched the swearing in of Obama.
On my birthday (thank you for all your congrats!) Micki woke me up with a song and then we headed to the bus station to get a "jumbo" (mega tuk-tuk) to Don Khong. The jumbo was packed and the ride was no were near comfortable but we got there in the end. Yesterday we spent the day sleeping, something we hadn't done for a long time! Relaxed and reloaded, today was to be filled with adventure and adrenaline. If you want to get around in southern Laos, you have to rent a motorbike (more like a scooter) and so we decided to rent one each because the roads are completely empty (except for water buffalos) and they are in really good shape. It took a while to figure out how the darn things work but soon enough we were zipping along at 20 km/h (then we found out how to shift gears). You have to shift gears yourself on the bikes not like scooter which are automatic. We rode around the island (never going faster than about 40 km/h, so don't worry parents) and actually enjoyed ourselves a lot. Although we have both decided not to do it again if there is anything resembling traffic and we have also firmly decided never to buy motorbikes :)
Tomorrow we are off to Don Det, another of the 4000 islands and after that we are crossing the border into Cambodia. You probably won't hear from us for a while as there is no internet (and only generator electricity) on Don Det and it might take a while for us to get to Phnom Pen or Siem Reap (whichever one is easier to get to).
Take care now, bye bye then
The now very old and hairy Robert & The always lovely Micki
p.s: Can't uplaod photos here so you'll have to make do with ones added to the blog entry... the rest are coming later.
Posted byRobbe at 12:25
dear bobby and mickey,
i bet you that few people watched the inauguration under such exceptional circumstances! Can't wait for more photos (taken by you Robbe!). Linnku now finished with mocks and quite happy. swansea knocked out portmouth in fa cup yesterday, and in 3 hours cardiff city plays arsenal in cardiff. you can imagine the traffic! much love from all of us. t el l
Hej på er!
Försenad Grattis Robban. Ingenting räddar en tråkig arbetsdag bättre än att få följa med era äventyr! Stor tack och ha det så bra.
H.Kate
Mikaela o Robbe,
Bra idé det där med att hellre ha chaufför än köra själv fastän trafiken inte såg särskilt livlig ut. Lycka till med nya expeditionsmål.
Johan