A Year In Motion

Maintenance of temples

We did not want to leave Vang Vieng, another tubing adventure was tempting. But Luang Prabang (LP) was at the top of my list from the start of the trip, so off we went in a minivan. The journey was only 230 km, but it took us almost 7 hours to get there. This time we had been warned plenty about the nauseating journey we would have through the narrow potholed roads of Laos that snake through its tall mountains. Being a perpetual sufferer of motion sickness I did not risk it and took plenty of medication that made me too drowsy the whole way, but it was worth it. If there is ever a journey where you need motion remedies, this is it.

Monks at full throttle the next to last day before lent

The daily night market

Luang Prabang was everything we wanted and more, it was the jewel of our Asian leg. The pace of life in LP is very relaxed, blending perfectly with the French Colonial architecture and innumerable Buddhist temples and monasteries. We were in awe by the richness of culture and heritage this small town had to offer. LP, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has about 100,000 inhabitants, including many many Buddhist monks.

Finding accommodation proved to be tricky. There is plenty of it, but the quality is not as good as we had hoped. In Vang Vieng we had easily found a great room for $10 (expensive for Vang Vieng) so we had arrived with preconceptions. LP gets a lot package tourists and not as many backpackers so it was different. We looked at probably all the guesthouses and small hotels in the town. We actually checked into three of them, we unpacked, and then we packed again and left a couple of hours later. When looking for a room, the first thing we ask is if the room has a bathroom inside. Secondly if it has air conditioning, and third if it has internet. In the first hotel they told us (and advertise big outside) there was free wifi. After unpacking and relaxing we decided to do some work on the blog. Surprise! No internet. We asked and they said it was not working these days. What!! We had clearly asked before checking in and they confirmed they did. Sometimes we take a room with no internet, but in this case it was the deceit which we did not appreciate, so we checked out.

Not where we ate...

Sunset on the Mekong

We checked into a second place, unpacked, went out for a walk, went for dinner and came back to sleep. Surprise! The air conditioning wasn’t working at all. 3 different men came in and tried to fix it. After an hour, around 10 pm, Tony told them that was enough, we could not wait anymore. They did not have any more rooms left with AC but did not want to lose our business so they offered to take us to another hotel. The other hotel was out of the town and they intended to charge us more. We checked out again! We walked through the town again checking all options we had not seen before. They were all booked or not good enough. It was getting very late so we ended up staying at a really nice place, but more expensive than all others in town. Tony had checked this place out from the beginning and it was tempting but it was too expensive. He went back 2 more times to ask for a discount but they wouldn’t nudge. In the end we had to take it, and when we checked in the receptionist asked me: “Is it true that my colleague is saying that this is the 4th time that he comes in?”. Yes it was, and this time we stayed there until we left LP.

Making merit

Not everyone is used to getting up at 6am

It turned out to be a real good move. In the end, all things happen for a reason. Our room had a balcony with chairs to sit in, from where we watched every morning before 6 am the Alms Ceremony. Basically we did not have to get out of bed to see the daily procession as our balcony was on the monks route. Everyday at sunrise the Buddhist monks make a single file procession to the temples. The devotees offer them food, which sustains the monks; but also the poorest people in the community, as the monks give some of it back to them. The offerings are mainly sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf, biscuits, candy and packed juices. The women have to kneel to present offerings to the monks, while the men may stand. Those differences between men and women I will never understand or appreciate. Anyway, the point of the ceremony is for the devotees to “make merit” according to Buddhism. We personally chose not to participate by giving offerings, but some tourists do. There are warnings all over town about how tourists should not interfere. First of all, if you take pictures, you should do it very discreetly. It was sickening how some tourists get in the monks way to get a snap. Secondly if you decide to give them an offering, you should not only follow the etiquette of dress, but should only offer fresh food (you should to buy the rice in the morning before 6 am). There were some women befriending tourists and giving them rice so they could participate in the ceremony. Then they demand money from you. We had seen the warnings so were not caught out, the monks end up throwing this rice as it is not fresh. We even read somewhere that some monks had gotten very sick from tourists offerings (provided by the touts) and that they wanted to stop doing the daily ceremony, but the authorities told them the tradition had to be continued to keep the tourists coming to LP. In any case, there is a very special feeling to witnessing this ceremony.

We continued our Laos gourmet tour in LP as there is an abundance of haute cuisine restaurants. It was a big change, as normally in SE Asia we have been struggling to find fine local food. We dii not even have time to try all the ones we wanted. One that is very worthy of a mention is Tamarind, a very small restaurant with awesome menus and tapas, as well as cooking classes. I was delighted that in Laos they use a lot of aubergine, cilantro, and fresh chili. We left Laos and for a change we had not had enough of the local cuisine. Laos did feel more expensive than Cambodia and Thailand, but maybe it was because of our taste in food… The night market does not have food, but it does have beautiful handwork from the natives. We said we would come back, especially to buy my father his Xmas present: giant scorpion in liquor. He is proud of his astrological sign Scorpion, and like Tony, is always willing to try crazy food and drink. Sorry papi!

Building the boats with energy drink bottles?

We could also not pass up the opportunity to try a Laotian massage at the Red Cross. Nothing like Thai massage, Lao massage is really soft. We also rented bikes and cycled through LP and its outskirts stopping at numerous temples. LP is full of Buddhist temples and you get a sense of their traditional customs. The days we were there were extra special as they were preparing for the End of the Buddhist Lent, during which the monks fast. All the locals were building paper boats that they will light on and place them on the Mekong River. Everyday we saw the progress done as they display them at the front of their houses. Every temple we passed by was being beautifully decorated by the monks, with paper stars and other artsy creations they made themselves. Some of the temples were spectacularly beautiful. The temples in LP are definitely the prettiest we have seen. On the last day of the lent, the Alms Ceremony was even more special as more than 300 monks marched through town, all with a fresh shaved head.

There were also boat races going on. Groups of men from different villages in different colored t shirts race against each other down the Mekong River. We saw them practicing daily and also saw several races. Tony hired a motorboat to race the boats, actually he wanted to film them as they raced so he went with them at their speed to see it side by side. It was a pity that we could not stay for the culmination of the festival, the night where the paper boats are lighted on the Mekong. We had no desire to travel by bus to Hanoi, Vietnam as it takes about 40 hours. We decided to go by plane, and since it was last minute there were no seats left for the day after the culmination of the festival. LP was just fantastic: beautiful and relaxing. Now on to something completely different: crazy Hanoi!

Luang Prabang is fantastic for photographing, some of our best pictures of the trip are here. Or check out a video diary, an introduction to a traditional Laotian meal, a few short videos of the alms ceremony, and Tony’s attempts at becoming a sports commentator on the boat racing in our videos below.

Every establishment in the 4000 islands sells the bus ticket to Vientiane, the capital of Laos; our next destination. The journey involves a 20 minute boat ride, a 2 hour bus ride to Pakse, a 6 hour wait in Pakse, and an overnight journey of 10 hours in a sleeper bus. We did not want to risk arriving in Pakse and not finding a seat on the bus so for the second time we bought the tickets from an intermediary. Most operators sell them for 200,000 Kip, but we managed to negotiate it down to 170,000. Once again, everything turned out fine. Either we have been lucky or smart, as there are plenty of scam stories going around.

The Sleeper Bus

We are no fans of overnight buses. The only one we have taken in the whole trip was in Turkey in the first week of the trip. We did not enjoy that, so we have avoided them like the plague since. Strangely enough, VIP buses only depart Pakse for Vientiane at night. We were surprised to see that the bus was quite nice, and all the places are beds, not reclining seats, but real proper beds. The whole bus was set as “double beds”, so 2 persons to one bed; a double bed that is smaller than a Western single bed though. In Asia it must not be a problem as everyone is tiny, but to Western guys…not comfortable. Our vendor, back in Don Khone, had done a good job of assuring us the best bed, the one with the longest leg space (as they all vary). Not only that, but we were so lucky that the bus was half empty; so we were allowed to take a double bed each. Service was good: two drivers, an attendant, and a goody bag for each of us. All this time we were worried about the comfort of the bus that we had forgotten about the state of Laos roads. It didn’t matter how nice the bus was, the ride was extremely bumpy, even though the drivers were quite good. Getting a good night’s sleep proved to be difficult.

That Dam Stupa

We arrived in the capital of Laos on a Sunday morning. Vientiane is situated on the left bank of the Mekong river, it’s divided into 9 districts, and has a population of about 650,000 people. It recently celebrated its 450 years of foundation. Yes it was a sleepy capital (as it is known), but it was a Sunday at 6 am. In my opinion, Vientiane is not sleepy, it’s relaxed, cultured and pleasant. We had no need of taking any transport, we walked everywhere and visited most of the important sites of the city.

All size Buddhas in Wat Sisaket

Vientiane has wide tree lined boulevards and avenues and an architecture reflecting its past, French colonialism. There is a long promenade bordering the Mekong, but at the time it was being reconstructed for the upcoming boat races and events to celebrate the End of the Rains Festival. There was carnival atmosphere at night, people out on the streets playing games for prizes, having drinks and street food, quite an ambience for a sleepy capital.

The 'Arc de Triomphe'

We strolled to Wat Si Saket, passing many other temples and the Presidential Palace en route. This temple is the only one in Vientiane to survive the Siamese invasion and destruction. It houses more than 10000 Buddha images of all shapes and sizes. Buddhist temples in Laos are notorious by displaying a big cobra and the coiled cobra head over Buddha, signifying protection.

Wat Sisaket

We then continued our walk to Patuxay, the Victory Monument. It was built in 1968 in memory of those who fought in the Independence War against France. Funny enough, it is a tacky version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. There is even a plaque under it describing it in English as a “concrete monster”. We climbed the seven levels to get a view of the city from the top. We did not expect to find a souvenir market inside it.

Lao style Tuk Tuk

On the way back we stumbled upon the Official Tourism Office, and we were quite surprised to find it open on a Sunday, but not surprised to find out they had no information and hardly spoke any English. We visited the surroundings of the Morning Market, as the original one is being remodeled. We observed the Laotians on their daily Sunday activities. In Laos you will find more monks in their orange robes than in any other country, including child monks. They are supposed to keep away from women, but more than once we observed them innocently flirting with girls. After all, they are only young boys.

Vientiane city

On our way to That Dam Stupa we witnessed more corruption. A police officer was observing the traffic, then he stopped the fanciest looking car he could spot. We don’t know what infraction he committed, but we knew what was coming. 3 minutes later we saw the exchange, a folded bill; and without delay both of them were on their way. That Dam literally means Black Stupa, it was constructed in the 15th Century and legend says that it is the resting place of a seven headed dragon that failed to protect the city from invasions. Because it failed, it is not well preserved, it’s not even black anymore.

Kua Lao Royal Meal

Tony and I have always enjoyed experimenting with different cuisines, but to be honest we were quite tired of Asian food so we were quite happy to discover that Laos still retains much French influence, including its cuisine. There were so many cafes serving French fare, International restaurants and Lao Haute Cuisine. We had a dilemma, so many good restaurants, so little time. We had French style breakfast at Joma, a popular bakery and cafe. We like French food, but not French prices while in Asia. For lunch we went for gourmet Italian and for dinner we had our first taste of Royal Lao cuisine.

Kua Lao potions

Kau Lao is an upscale touristy restaurant, but it has maintained its quality standards, and locals still frequent it. Among others, one of its visitors is the Prime Minister of Japan. We seem to be on the right track of finding good restaurants as we have eaten in several restaurants visited by him. We had two different set menus to share and they were absolutely delicious. Lao food is served all at the same time in small bowls, starters and mains together. That is the only thing we dislike, as we like to savor course by course, as in Europe; without our food getting cold. Like in all SE Asia, all food is served with rice. Same same but different; in Laos, the rice is not steamed, but cooked sticky (white, purple, or black), and served in a bamboo closed container. You make little rice balls with your hands and then pick the food with it and put it in your mouth. Lime leaves, mint, chilies, bamboo, little ball aubergines, mushrooms and lemongrass are staple ingredients. Laos cuisine grabbed us by surprise, it is absolutely delicious and different from any other we have tasted. We thought we were going to be eating French all the time, but Laos cuisine was so good that we had to pass up on the French.

There was traditional Lao music and dance. As the language, the music and dance is very similar to Thailand’s. The highlight of the night came when Tony spotted some strange jars at the bar. He made his way up there, chatted with the barman and manager and before I knew it he was back with two small cups of Laotian specialties, saved for connoisseurs (not in the menu). The first one was a brandy of an exotic rare aged mushroom, apart from the strong smell, it was quite nice and sweet tasting. The second one was a strong aged liqueur with many big dead bees in it. Innocently enough, I thought it would taste like honey. Wrong, quite the opposite, very strong. The staff at the restaurant were quite friendly and explained to us about Lao culture. Tony then inquired about his new craving: snake blood. They told him that it’s now illegal, but maybe in the countryside he could find it. Stay tuned, watch this space!

A short pleasant stay in Vientiane, and on to our next destination, the infamous Vang Vieng. We bought a VIP bus ticket for $ 5 each. The distance between the two points is only 160 km, but took us almost 4 hours! Apart from the usual delays (bus driver stopping whenever he gets hungry), the road in Laos is the worst we’ve encountered so far and the speed limit is 80 kph, but the worst part is that it is very narrow, and very curvy as it goes up and down the mountains of the territory. Not a pleasant ride for those with delicate stomachs like myself.

Survived Tubing in Vang Vieng!

We arrived in Vang Vieng (VV) and it was very easy to find a decent place to stay. In Lao, there are not many touts, and the few are not very persistent. We started walking through the town with our bags and we were approached several times by hotel agents in tuk tuks, cars, motorcycles or walking. We took our time to see what they offered and we ended up scoring a nice quiet traditional AC ensuite cabin with wifi and cable tv for $10. There are so many hotel rooms in Vang Vieng that a good deal is easy to find. The rest of the day we walked around the town, as it was too late to go tubing. VV is nothing but a small town full of restaurants and bars all showing reruns of Friends, The Simpsons and Family Guy; as well as offering “Magic Menus”. If you don’t plan on tubing in VV then there is no point in going. There are caves and waterfalls to visit, but then again, where aren’t there any in SE Asia?

VV meals

Tubing is the star of the show in VV and that’s what we came for. Basically you rent a tube (inflated old tyre) from the cartel in town (owned by all the families in VV) and a tuk tuk takes you to the launching point about 10 km out of town. You float back to VV in your tube down the Nam Song River which is surrounded by impressive beautiful karst formation mountains. But it’s not only that, the peculiarity of it is the dozens of ”interesting” stops you end up making along the way.

We had heard and read mixed reports about VV from fellow travelers. From those that said it was so awesome they did it many days in a row, to those who thought it was not even worth visiting VV, to those who tell stories of others ending with serious injuries or death by drowning because of intoxication. For moments I thought we were too old for something like that and our time in Laos was limited anyway; but as I always say “I’d rather regret doing it, then never knowing what I missed”, so we went for it.

Leaving the tubes back after dark

By nightfall of our first day in VV the tubers started returning back. We saw many barefoot girls in bikinis walking through town, a guy carrying his passed out girlfriend over his shoulders (caveman style), excessively drunken loud guys, many with spray painting over their bodies. These are daily normal scenes in VV. Tubing looked promising.

Next day and our time had come. We rented the tube and signed a disclaimer form liberating them from accidental death or injuries, got a big number imprinted on our hand (with permanent black marker) which matched our disclaimer form. We asked where the return point was, but they couldn’t be bothered in explaining us anything else. Off we went in the tuk tuk to the launch point. Our first consolation was that the other people in the tuk tuk were even older than us.

VV Arts and Crafts program

We arrived and couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was surreal! Right In the middle of the countryside in Laos were these bars playing really loud techno music, very old Laotian countrymen and women were dancing and singing to the music, sliding face down to the river, ziplining and offering us free shots of insect and reptile infused Laos alcohol, and to spray paint our bodies. What is this place? This is what tubing is all about.

Found a lost tuber

Unfortunately we don’t have photos to show as we didn’t want to risk our camera getting wet, but trust me Vang Vieng is one messed up place out of reality. Tubing? Most people don’t get to do any tubing at all, as they pass the time going into the many bars that are about 200 meters away from each other. As you pass by in your tube, the staff from each bar throws you a rope and pulls you back. It looks like everybody is having so much fun, that we couldn’t resist joining them and stopping at almost every bar. Personally we were in control of the situation the whole time, but so many were not. It is scary to think what could happen to them. Every bar has different activities to participate in such as water slides, zip lines, mud volleyball, mud wrestling, etc. We did all of them and it was a blast.

This is a place for adults and there are no rules. There is all kinds of alcohol on sale (plus free shots), free bananas and crackers, and a special menu (for those that know about it). Time goes by so quickly and everyone ends up paying the fine for not returning the tube before 6 pm. After the last bar you can return by tuk tuk. We still wanted to tube for real so we decided to continue on the river. It took us more than 90 minutes to get back, so night and rain had fallen on us. Honestly, it was a bit scary not knowing how much distance you had left, the night creatures, and the occasional men you would see in the river. A Spaniard guy caught up to us and asked if he could hang with until the end as he had the same concerns. In the end (as we supposed) the ending point is not marked and there is no one waiting for you. We ended tubing all the way back to our hotel (way past the point). The day before and that day we saw several tubers reappearing in the river really late way past the point and on their own, scary…

So do we regret tubing? Absolutely not! The only thing we regret is not renting our tubes early enough and having a longer day tubing. We had so much fun, probably the most fun filled day of all the trip. And there were many people our age and older. We recommend to anyone young at heart to do it, just start it no later than 12 p.m and be responsible for yourself and companions.

For the complete photo gallery, click here.

The waterfall, Don Khone

We left Cambodia and headed to Si Phan Don in Laos, literally meaning and better known as the 4000 Islands. We waved goodbye to Tony’s father and departed Kratie, Cambodia. We had come to Kratie to see the rare and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins who live in the Mekong River. We drove about 15 km out of town and then took a boat. It seemed like an impossible task to spot one of the few specimens in the huge Mekong, especially at that time of year when it is at its mightiest. We had been looking for them for almost two hours, and losing hope by the minute. Just when we were about to turn back, Tony spotted one of them. We stayed for longer and caught a few glimpses of them. They are very cute, but only come up for a quick breath of air once in a while. We all had our cameras ready to snap, but it was impossible to catch them. Still we were really excited we spotted them.

4 hours after leaving Kratie we had arrived at our next destination, the island of Don Khone. We took a minivan from Kratie to Stung Treng with a journey time of 1.5 hours, then a one hour bus to the border, 30 minutes at the border, 15 minutes from the border to Ban Nakasan, and 20 minutes on a small boat to Don Khone. The journey did not go without incidents though. The border crossing from Cambodia (Dong Kralor) to Laos (Dong Kalaw) is notorious for its corrupt officials. On many occasions during our travels we have been warned about situations like this, but being very aware and informed we have been able to elude them, so far we had done all our travels without having to pay any bribes, or additional “fees”. That was until Laos. Lao visas are available at this border since this year, but to avoid being the prey of this infamous officials we applied for them in advance at the Lao Embassy; a very straightforward process that only took one day and $40 each, no additional charges.

At that window in the border you get asked for the bribe

This border crossing is quite rustic, simple and fast. Exiting Cambodia, I handed my passport to an official and he murmured “1 Dollar”. I replied very loudly: “1 Dollar! For What?”. He did not reply back. There were four other travelers with us and another official told one of them “1 Dollar for stamp” before returning his passport. He replied he didn’t have any money, and that was the end of the story; they gave all of us our passports back, stamped and with no further demands. Easy enough saying “no money”. 200 meters and we were in Lao territory. We filled the entry card and handed it in with our passport. “2 Dollars for entry stamp” said the official. The first traveler said he didn’t have any money. It didn’t work this time…To make the story short, after more than 30 minutes of arguments, begging, insults, threats, etc, the six of us had no choice than to pay the bribe. Every traveler had a different strategy to get out of it, and none worked. From the Japanese girl’s strategy of I am so innocent I don’t understand, to Tony’s tough guy attitude, nada; we all had to swallow our pride and cough up the bucks. Tony verbally expressed all his sentiments to the officer, but of course the only English he knew was “2 Dollars”, if not he would have been deported before getting the entry stamp. Needless to say it’s not about the $2, but about the principle. We all felt robbed, violated, impotent, it’s a horrible feeling. After venting out all our frustration, we were all quiet the rest of the way. Tony and I played with the idea of just entering Laos without the stamp (as you can easily walk in and out), but we didn’t risk it because our plan was to leave by air; if we were leaving by land, we would have called their bluff and not give in to the bribe. We all had our visas which are not cheap, we all were coming to spend money in a country that really needs it; Laos is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and it does not receive the tourism that its neighboring countries do. How can the central government allow this situation? They are very aware of it because it’s written in guidebooks, traveler blogs, etc. Welcome to Laos!

The mighty Mekong from Don Khone

Just a few kilometers into Laos and we realized how different than Cambodia it was. For starters, the roads are really bad, while in Cambodia they are in pretty good conditions. The farther we went into Laos, the better the weather, we had left the humidity of Cambodia behind as we headed North and up in the mountains. Surprisingly people were not as friendly, and they were not wearing pijamas (common in Cambodia). 18 km after the border we arrived in Ban Nakasan, the gateway to the islands. From there we were taken by boat to Don Khone, our selected island. 4000 islands is still not in most traveler’s itineraries as it is off the beaten path, except for those traveling overland between Cambodia and Laos. It makes a good stopover to break the long journey, considering especially the border crossing closes at 4 pm (or you can pay a big bribe and they will open it especially for you, but no transport at that time anyway). Out of the 4000 Islands, most travelers choose Don Dhet, as it is the most easily accessible, with the cheapest accommodation and food, and the party vibe. Don Khone is a bit more upscale, quieter and more beautiful, boasting 2 interesting waterfalls and more authenticity as it gets fewer tourists.

Traditional accommodation

Apart from the border incident, the travel went well. We were hesitant about buying the ticket from an agent in Kratie (called Mr. Cheat) all the way to Don Khone, as it involved 4 transfers. Usually we are very careful, purchasing always every segment personally and directly from the operator ourselves, but this time we gave it a shot. We paid $14 each from Kratie to Don Khone. Mr Cheat did not cheat us.

The 4000 Islands are in the province of Champasak, South Laos. They are a group of islands in a winding part of the mighty Mekong River. When the rainy season is over, the water levels drop dramatically and more islands appear. Apart from the muddy brown waters of the Mekong, the setting was postcard perfect. Lushness everywhere, tall palm trees and bamboo plants adorned the isolated rustic villages. We walked the main strip looking for accommodation. We couldn’t believe how cheap it was, we were offered waterfront AC ensuite rooms for 7 US Dollars. However we wanted something nicer, so we kept searching until we found a duplex hut with a private balcony directly on stilts over the water for $25. Our accommodation was brilliant, we could lay in the hammock and just watch life on the Mekong pass by, even from the bed you could hear and see the river. It was lovely hearing the rainstorms at night, the sounds of the wild, and looking at the stars and fireflies. I could have easily stayed a long time there doing nothing as in Gili Meno, but Tony was not impressed and the rest of Lao and Vietnam were waiting for us.

The infamous French Bridge

Our terrace on stilts

One of the few activities you can do is rent a bike and cycle the island, but because of the rain the terrain was too muddy. Instead we walked the island, which is very easy. Into the island you find the locals leading their daily life, planting the scenic rice fields, kids at school, etc. We were shocked and disgusted to find a gibbon trapped in a small cage and a macaque tied with a metallic chain to a tree. I felt like denouncing the situation, but to who, they would have laughed at me. We arrived at the Somphamit waterfalls, and although I have to admit they are more like rapids than waterfalls, they are quite impressive because of their width and the fast flowing huge amounts of water. You can walk up to them from the side and it’s scary to think about slipping falling into them. Another activity is to try your luck at spotting the rare Irrawady dolphins. We had already done it in Kratie, were chances are stronger, so we did not pursue them in Don Khone.

The waterfall

Then the second bad incident in our first 24 hours in Laos occurred. There is an old French bridge connecting Don Khone to Don Dhet. The local “authorities” (there are no formal authorities or police) of Don Khone have imposed a toll fee of 20000 Kip (about US $2.50) to foreigners crossing on foot or bike from Don Dhet to Don Khone. It’s their village and I suppose they can do whatever they please, but I still think it’s steep; especially considering that it only applies to foreign tourists on foot or bike; not to the hundreds of daily Thai tourists that come in package tours and cross the bridge in minibuses as they make a quick visit to the waterfalls. I witnessed how many tourists coming from Don Dhet had to turn back as they were unwilling to pay the fee or did not have money with them. We had no plans of visiting Don Dhet, even less if we had to pay that amount. As we were walking in Don Khone, Tony thought we should step over the bridge to cross a muddy bit. Immediately the man in charge demanded the toll. We explained to him we were not going to cross the bridge, we did not want to go to Don Dhet. He became unreasonable and as the border official, all he could say was “money money”. Tony told him a few things and got on the bridge. Tony is double the size of most men in Laos, so he did not dare stop him; but then he tried to stop me by blocking my path. I thought things would start getting ugly as other men appeared out of the booth, so I told Tony we should get out of there. For agriculture or whatever reason, most men there carry axes and machetes with them, it wasn’t a good idea to fight them. After a cross of English and Laotian insults between both parts, we left. We both felt disgusted, disappointed and angered with Lao attitudes towards foreigners. Further on, every time we passed by the “toll booth”, groups of men (that hang inside the booth all day and do nothing but put tourist money in their pockets) would come out of the booth, and harass us. It was intimidating.

Inland Don Khone

We stayed for only 48 hours and it was enough. Maybe in dry season when they say the Mekong is turquoise clear (hard to believe) and mot muddy brown the 4000 Islands are worth the trip. Laotian food was surprisingly delicious in Don Khone. I was really hoping Laos would start to look up and redeem itself because it was my idea to go there. Tony wanted to skip it, and divide the time between Cambodia and Vietnam. After reading from many travel blogs and hearing from travelers that Laos was so brilliant, I insisted we should come. Curiously enough just before arriving into Laos we heard and read traveler reports stating the opposite, how they disliked Laos. Let’s hope Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang will give Laos a good name.

For more pictures of the 4000 Islands click here.