It turns out that neither Ngoc or myself are much of the novelist type. With great excitement we started this blog, but as time goes by our natural inclinations of laziness kick in. I am going to do my best to jump start the literary engine, but until then keep checking for new posts and communicating I with us on fb.
Since I've last blogged we have visited 3 towns in Laos and moved on to Thailand. Our spirits remain strong even if tested by travel fatigue, my epic grumpiness, or Ngoc's bad luck with food. Tomorrow we are excited to be heading back into the jungles after a 5 day stay in very very fancy and developed Bangkok. Ngoc will post the details of these days soon enough. Before that let me share the tales of our first multi-destination/day motorbike trip from last week...
In my infinite blind confidence of my motor vehicle skills(Louis, Jen, and candace know of the best) it seemed a no brainier to rent yet another motorbike in Paske. Our travel book very clearly states (in the most vague descriptions of any location for Lao) that traveling to the Bolaven Plateau by motorbike is very safe and simple to do. This time I was right to listen to the book!
We departed the semi-urban landscape of Pakse into the wild. The roads very oddly and in major conflict with the rest of Laos are in amazing shape. Smooth riding all the way! With Ngoc on the saddle behind me riding shotgun I pushed the bike to full speed down the beautiful tree lined roads. The sky above us opened up to a beautiful clear day with the warm tropical sun beaming down on us. The air was fresh and not a bit of dust or grime could be sensed around us. The occasional moto or truck would pass us, but more often it was just the two of us and the open road.
As we moved further and made the slow climb to higher elevations the shade and breeze offered relief from the sun. I couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity to riding around the lake in Erieville, NY this last summer on my mom's 4-wheeler. The feeling of the clean cool air, the moisture around us from the forest, and the thoughts that nothing could feel better. I had a permanent smile on my face the entire ride to our first location and could not have been happier with our decision to go off on our own journey into the wild. One without a guide, a common language, or knowledge of where we would stay that night.
Taking the simplified route described in the guide book (3 days instead of 5), we made our first stop in Tat Lo. With only a brief sighting of a sign pointing us in the right direction and the estimated distance from our odometer compared to what we were told, we spun around and took a right turn where ngoc though he saw a sign. Well, he did see that sign and now we knew we were headed in the right direction! Another few turns down narrowing and twisting plantation roads, past a few villages with local children yelling, "waterfall here!!". We stayed focused and within minutes we were back to civilization. In the town there are 4 hotels, 2 shack restaurants, a "tourist center", and a school. Let's just say it was a quiet place. Even further than quiet, it seems not many tourist brave the way out east. We would finally have the journey we have been looking for!
After exploring one of the many waterfalls (yea, more of them) we settled on a bungalow resort across the bridge from town. Here there were fancy aircon bungalows with tv for $80 or the more primitive bamboo shack with a fan and a bathroom for $8. I thought the disconnect between the two prices was a bit suspicious and we would find the catch later on, but I was wrong. It seems that it is just bad pricing techniques to attempt pulling more money from the westerners, maybe this is why many don't make the trip? Needless to say, we did not pay $80!
We dined at the hotel restaurant overlooking yet another waterfall and enjoying the cool air. We returned to our bungalow to find an enormous lizard near the door. We've become very used to seeing very small geckos running all over, even in our rooms, but not this. At least a foot long and with bright red spots, the beast was what we've only seen in zoos! After a few flashes from the camera he ran off into the night and we settled into our bungalow. With the sounds of the jungle and waterfall in the distance we had a beautiful nights sleep. The next morning we woke up rested and ready to jump back on the bike.
After a few wrong turns and many quiet villages full of pigs, puppies, and children waving and greeting us we made it to Paksong. We stopped off at the only place in town with wifi and also happened to be a coffee shop run by a Danish coffee aficionado. Unfortunately he was not there at the time, but we took advantage of the free wifi and figured out where we would stay that night. With the promise of fresh local coffee later we took a ride further down the road to the cheaper of two resorts. After some price negotiations we settled on $22 a night for a beautiful fully finished bungalow with tv, AC, and a wrap around porch. This night would be a bit different than the last. Again with the very odd pricing tactics, but the place was completely empty spare one or two other guests in the resort that was smack in the middle of a coffee plantation. In addition to the waterfall the plantation sat connected to, there was pristine jungle all around us and not a peep of civilization the be heard. With that settled we headed back to town for coffee and dinner.
Surrounding us were miles and miles or coffee plantations and as you moved closer into town you could see the new harvest being dried on driveways, roadways, or even in satellite dishes. There was no mistaking that we were in Laos coffee crossroads. Now how it tasted...
The owner of the coffee shop brewed us a simple espresso with a Italian manual pot. Even Ngoc summoned the interest to have a taste(something he never does). The beans were grown behind the shop, then roasted that morning in a pan by hand before cooling. Then they are ground per order and brewed for us. Somehow food with a story always has a way of tasting best, but this coffee would have stood on its own without the story. This was one of the best I've had in sometime and will rank with the first time I had a properly made macchiato in Seattle nearly 10 years ago (when I fell in love with coffee).
We made our way to a dirty little shack advertising Vietnamese food in hopes Ngoc would be able to communicate with them. Luck had it and we feasted on rice, fried chicken, and greens. With our bellies full and buzzing from the coffee high we headed back to the resort. The night was spent relaxing and enjoying the surroundings. With another peaceful nights sleep under our belt brought the realization that we did actually have to go back to Pakse. Sadly and slowly we made our way back to the real world. The one where the sun burns and dust, exhaust, and scents of garbage and sewage fill the air. A truly sad journey, but one we've gotten used to. The show must go on.
During our journeys we caught wind that land routes to Bangkok had dried up. This meant we could make our way to the city without paying for an expensive flight. We solidified our plans back in Pakse after giving back the bike and departed for Bangkok. A van, a tuktuk, a bus, and 14 hours later we arrived in the bustling urban landscape of Bangkok at 5 Am...In the dark.
Below you will see Ngoc picking up more fleas, the vie from Tat Lo after the somewhat traumatic hike to the top of the waterfall, cute piggies, our lizard friend, and the front of our bamboo bungalow.
We leave Bangkok for Siem Riep, Cambodia tomorrow. We'll do our best to up the photo variation and quality for our last 20 days. Happy holidays too all and to all a good night!
