Bjorn, a Sweedish cyclist met just before the border. He has been cycling for 6 months and will carry on for another 4 months. Very interesting to share experiences
Cold, wind and rain seems to belong to another universe... Laos with its smiling children, rural scenes and slow pace of life has re-conquered our hearts.
We arrived in Pakse 2 days ago after a fairly gruelling ride from Phibun Mangsahan in Thailand. Going across the border was more painless than we had remembered, although the Visa fee had gone up to $35 (strangely, Canadians have to pay $42, Indians and Afghans $40 and Swedes $31...) and we were asked to pay another 40Baht for having our passports rubber stamped!
We didn't at first have a very good impression of Pakse, 66 000 inhabitants. We were tired, hungry, it was getting dark and somehow, for the first time during our travels couldn't make sense of the map. We had crossed the Mekong and somehow our compass and map didn't relate. Eventually, after cycling around feeling lost, we stumbled upon just the guesthouse we were looking for in the old part of town, Sabaidi 2 (Sabaidi = Hello). Only then did we realise that not only the bridge we had crossed had been built after our Lonely Planet was printed but there were two Champasak Hotels near two different bridges...
Pakse, however has grown on us and we are in danger of settling here too long... It was founded by the French in 1905 and hasn't got very many old houses but John has found a few colonial-era buildings of Franco-Chinese design and has amused himself photographing and sketching them. Nicole, in the meantime has been sipping lemon juices and indulging in French bread and coffee...
Our guesthouse is charming, extremely relaxed and the owner, Mr Vong, very friendly and knowledgeable. A couple of years ago he returned to his native country from a life in France and converted his grand parents house into a backpackers haven. It even has some hot showers! Planning to leave tomorrow for Champasak, a smaller town 35km south where we have read there are Angkor-period ruins.
We wish you all a Happy Christmas!
We arrived in Pakse 2 days ago after a fairly gruelling ride from Phibun Mangsahan in Thailand. Going across the border was more painless than we had remembered, although the Visa fee had gone up to $35 (strangely, Canadians have to pay $42, Indians and Afghans $40 and Swedes $31...) and we were asked to pay another 40Baht for having our passports rubber stamped!
We didn't at first have a very good impression of Pakse, 66 000 inhabitants. We were tired, hungry, it was getting dark and somehow, for the first time during our travels couldn't make sense of the map. We had crossed the Mekong and somehow our compass and map didn't relate. Eventually, after cycling around feeling lost, we stumbled upon just the guesthouse we were looking for in the old part of town, Sabaidi 2 (Sabaidi = Hello). Only then did we realise that not only the bridge we had crossed had been built after our Lonely Planet was printed but there were two Champasak Hotels near two different bridges...
Pakse, however has grown on us and we are in danger of settling here too long... It was founded by the French in 1905 and hasn't got very many old houses but John has found a few colonial-era buildings of Franco-Chinese design and has amused himself photographing and sketching them. Nicole, in the meantime has been sipping lemon juices and indulging in French bread and coffee...
Our guesthouse is charming, extremely relaxed and the owner, Mr Vong, very friendly and knowledgeable. A couple of years ago he returned to his native country from a life in France and converted his grand parents house into a backpackers haven. It even has some hot showers! Planning to leave tomorrow for Champasak, a smaller town 35km south where we have read there are Angkor-period ruins.
We wish you all a Happy Christmas!
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