Well, we've been busy. The South of Laos and the North of Cambodia have past us by since we last posted anything and it's hard to believe we haven't had the time to sit down and write anything.
Last time we posted we'd just arrived in Vienteine and were trying to find shelter from the sun. We ended up spending a few days cruising round there on a motorbike, checking out the sights and living the (mostly charming, occasionally infuriating) lazy Laos pace of life, but mostly again, trying to survive the heat. From there we pottered slowly south through Savannaket and Pakse before spending a couple of days in beautiful Si Phan Don, where the Mekong spreads out and winds through four thousand tiny islands before it hits Cambodia.
Which is what all the backpackers do too, I suppose. We really loved Laos - nice cruisy pace, no hassles, really quiet, friendly people - but by the time we hit Si Phan Don we'd spent enough time on hot stuffy packed out local buses and were definitely ready to crash out somewhere for a few catch up days of swimming and relaxing and book-reading. (Its always about the swimming for us.) Si Phan Don was a pretty amazing place - beautiful lush surroundings and we were lucky enough to see some of the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins which might not last much longer - but the place seems to be in the process of becoming another Vang Vieng style tourist cash-in. Lots of construction everywhere on the island we stayed on but we had a lovely guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the river and a lovely family looking after us so I don't know why I'm complaining. I think they do understand that the big part of the appeal of the place is that its so quiet and slow and the fact they only have electricity from 6pm till 10pm will probably stop any Club Meds opening up for a while yet!
Then, Cambodia. And we though Laos was disorganised! Long story short (to be shouted enthusiastically): Boat hits rocks! Wait for van! Wrong border! No visas today! (we had ours sorted already), Big fight! (not us), Extra money! Big fight! (not us), Change van! New border, different road! Extra money! Change van again! Lost packs! (us this time!), To many people for van now, too bad, squeeze in! Get off van! Get on boat! Found packs! (its not a totally sad story) No more vans, you stay here tonight!
Actually as you read that story someone should be yelling Hot! Hot! Hot! at the same time trying to distract you. You really do have to take a deep breath and laugh or you'll go nuts.
A day later than we meant to we ended up for a few days in dusty Ban Lung. Again, more motorbiking (this time on some seriously dodgy dusty dusty red dirt roads) and swimming in a stunning volcanic crater lake with green jungle all around. Yeak Loam was easily a solid contender for best swimming spot of the trip, and we've done plenty of sweet swimming spots. We spent last night in Kratie and today we took another hot dusty packed local to Phnom Penh. Did I say hot? April is the hottest month of the year here so its only going to get better.
Still a bit too early to make any solid calls on Cambodia but first impressions? Hot and crazy. Terrible roads. Lots of people hassling you everywhere for moto rides, rooms, pineapples and just straight out begging. Let me wipe the sweat off my face first.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment