Last Days in Asia
I had a couple of days in Pakse before I had to get going. That gave me enough time to head up to Ban Saphai where they do weaving for the skirts that all the women do. I asked how to get there at my guesthouse and found out that they were going to be starting their rocket festival the day I wanted to go. The rocket festival is a pre-Buddhist tradition where the towns shoot rockets up in the air in order to anger the gods and which will cause them to make it rain. It’s done at the start of May every year in order to provoke the rainy season into starting. The fact that the rainy season was already beginning wasn’t going to stop them from celebrating.
More Waterfalls and Villages
After a lazy day in Pakse I set up a tour to go to the Bolavan Plateau to go see the tallest waterfall in Laos at 125 meters, three other waterfalls, a tea and coffee plantation, and a local village. The tour was through the guesthouse I was staying at and six of us set off in the morning. Our guide was quite good (again) and funny as well although I don’t think that all of it was on purpose. The first stop was the tea plantation which was similar to the one I’d visited in Malaysia although the surrounding area and scenery wasn’t as fantastic. Read more
The Loop – Day 3
In the morning I saw what a nice location the lodge was at. Right on the river, listening to the birds and the village right next to it. It wouldn’t have been a bad place to be stuck at all. As I ate breakfast I watched a man a wife take down their garden that was built on a bank near of the river. Talking to the guy at the lodge they were getting ready for the wet season when the river would rise 2 meters. Read more
The Loop – Day 2
Since I was further than planned I decided to take the dirt road north for an hour just to see what was there and double back on the same road. The road had dried up nicely during the night and was packed down well so there where no problems. It was a very nice drive. Clouds were still around and very low covering the tops of the mountains on both sides of me. I passed a few more small villages and took some pictures of them with the clouds and mountains in the background, very picturesque. I double back and got on the paved road. Read more
The Loop – Day 1
A quick note on my final day in Luang Prabang. The waterfall was everything I’d hoped for a huge nearly 100 meter tall fall over several levels. I walked up to the top, but the most impressive view was from the bottom. It was Lao Labor Day so there were lots of Lao families there picnicking and drinking Beerlao along with all the tourists there. I flew to Vientiane that night which was a great decision. A 33 minute flight versus a 9 hour bus ride. Read more
A Couple of New Experiences
Well it was another gorgeous drive to up to Luang Prabang. The whole trip was through the mountains and windy roads. About halfway there clouds rolled in and covered the mountain tops making it that much more unique. I still couldn’t keep my eyes open the whole way and snuck in a couple of quick naps. Because of the steep grades and turns we weren’t moving too fast and it took almost 7 hours to go less than 200 miles. Read more