Travelog

Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents!

Catherine, Jessica, Sharon and I get up early.  Sharon’s not feeling well, and Jessica is not interested, so it’s just Catherine and I that head to the Russian Market for some shopping.  Catherine’s trip is winding down, so she is after some souvenirs, and a broom.  I was hoping to find a bag, a camera battery charger, and some clothes.   I wandered around with Catherine for a while then said goodbye, as she had to head back to the guesthouse to catch her bus to Siem Reap.  She’s heading there a day ahead of us.

When she leaves, I search for my own purchases, managing to find a fake North Face that, for $25, should hopefully last me the rest of my trip.

Still in need of a battery charger, I head to Soya market.  It’s more of a mall than a market, and I wander around for a bit, managing to find a charger that isn’t made by Canon, but will hopefully do the trick.  Sadly, the clothes selection is pretty weak.  I meet a local guy, named Larry, whose English is pretty good.  Chat with him for a bit, and he suggests I try Central Market, which is walking distance from the mall.

I grab some shorts at the market, and an ipod cable, then go back to the guesthouse.

Rest of the day is spent pretty uneventfully, other than the point mid afternoon when a group of 20 or 30 uniformed students scream past the guesthouse on their scooters.  They knock a non-uniformed teenager off his motorbike, then pick up a bottle and throw it at him.  I ask the reception what the deal is, but she says that’s just the way the kids are.  Welcome to Cambodia.  A little later, I go to check my email, removing my flipflops as requested.  When I return, someone has taken them – probably mistaking them for their own.

Jessica and I grow tired of waiting for Sharon and Julien for dinner, so we head to the river to find something.  Sharon and Julien show up eventually, with a French/Cambodian couple in tow. We spend the night at the restaurant, harrassed once again by kids.  We recruit one to join us for cards.  She picks up the game quite fast.

Wake up feeling pretty rubbish.  Lena and the Latinos are to meet us for breakfast, but they don’t show up.  We get breakfast on our own, and the five of us, Julien, Catherine, Sharon, Jessica and myself, hire a tuk-tuk to take us around for the day. 

First stop is the Killing Fields, and en route we spot Lena and the boys in their own tuk-tuk.  We meet up with them at the fields, and take a walk through.  Smaller than I thought they’d be, and not as depressing as I thought they might be.

We head to S-21 next, a former school they’d converted to a prison.  We walk through old cells and through rooms containing nothing but photos of the prison’s inmates.  Whatever bug I have has me pretty exhausted, so I take lots of breaks.

Last stop of the day is the Royal Palace, which is so expensive that Julien and Jessica don’t bother entering.  In the end it’s not too impressive.  Actually, it’s impressive, but seems redundant after seeing so many nice wats and palaces in Thailand.

We stop by the river for lunch.  As we’re paying the tuk-tuk driver, I hear Wiki call my name and turn to see her and Pennie enjoying their own lunch. I thought they were a day or two ahead of me, in Cambodia, so I am surprised to see them.  They’re staying in the same guesthouse, so we chat for a few minutes and agree to meet later. 

I join the others for lunch, and were constantly hounded by young kids selling books, postcards and other items.  Louisa and Beth, from Luang Prabang, who seem to have gotten through Vietnam pretty quickly, walk into a nearby bank, and I flag them over when they leave.

In the evening, we try to meet Lena and the boys for a drink, but fail at finding them.  We go for a drink, check the internet, and then Jess, Catherine, and I head home for the night.

Lena and I caught an early boat to the mainland, then waited about an hour for the rest of the group to arrive.  When we had enough to fill a minibus, we piled in and headed to the Cambodian border.  Met two Canadians, Catherine and Sharon (who is yet another Guelph alum I’ve met on this trip, but we think we may actually have been in a class or two together, as we were there at the same time – plus she looks really familiar), and a Kiwi, Jessica.  The three of them were travelling together.  Also met Julien from Marseilles, France.

The minibus drove us to the border.  We filed out at the Laos exit, and had our exit stamps applied to our passports.  We each had to pay $2 U.S as a “holiday fee”, which is pretty typical at southeast asian borders.  From there we walked about 100 metres down the road to the Cambodian border.  Paid a $1 holiday fee there as well.  There was a Liberian on board who had a business visa, and was forced to pay an extra $200 U.S, so the $3 I paid didn’t seem so bad.

We switched buses, and drove for about half an hour when the bus broke down.  The driver flagged down a motorbike, and left us at the side of the road.  10 minutes later he came back with a can of petrol, and fueled up.   On our way once again, we stopped in Strung Threp for an hour to eat.  I had deer roti which is nothing like the roti we get in Canada.

Switched to yet another bus, and picked up some more travellers before heading on our way.  An Argentinian and a Mexican that were travelling together broke out their guitars and regaled us with some music (including Celine Dion at one point).  The road was very bumpy, and at one point two people in the backseat, Julien and Jessica, hit their heads on the ceiling at the same time that we got a flat tire at the front.  The tire must have been redundant, as the driver  yanked it aboard and soldiered on.

Stopped for dinner briefly, and a good 14 hours after we’d departed, finally arrived in Pnohm Penh.   We all tried to go to the same guesthouse that Lena had recommended, but of the three tuktuks we had, only one made it.  We eventually made it to the right place, but they were booked solid.  Only Lena and the Latin boys were able to stay.  We headed back to the guesthouse our driver had taken us to originally, and checked in there.

I was exhausted from travelling, and felt like I was coming down with another lovely stomach bug, so I headed to sleep pretty early.

Another lazy day on the island. We opted to hire some kayaks but had a devil of a time finding someone to rent us one. At one place, we were told we could get one if we came back in an hour or so, as the owner was returing from a month long stay in Luang Prabang.

We killed the time on the hammocks, then hired the kayaks. Took a while to get the hang of it, and it was still hard work. We stopped for a swim and rest, then made our way back the long way.

It started to pour rain as we ate dinner, so we ran back to the bungalow to hide out for the night.

We left a note for Lucio, hired some bikes, then headed to breakfast at our usual place (good food, terribly slow service). Justine and Beck were there, so we joined them. When we were nearly finished, Lucio joined us.

After breakfast, Lucio hired a bike and joined us on a tour of the island. We crossed the bridge to Don Khon, and paid the toll. The first stop was the waterfall – more of a steep section of the river, but very powerful. They probably ought to harness the power to use for the island, which currently runs on generators, which generally shut down at about 10pm.

We sat in the shade by the waterfall when I heard a “hello”. I’m pretty used to the locals yelling hello, so I was surprised to see our tuk-tuk driver from Pakse, Mr. Luey, when I looked up. He’d come from Pakse with a Thai family, to give them a tour of the island.

We headed to a beach near the waterfall, where we met an English guy, called Jack. He was interested in seeing the dolphins as well, so we hired a boat and the four of us ventured out. The fresh water Irrawaddy dolphins popped up a few times, but never too close to the boat. The Cambodian side of the Mekong was pretty clouded over and gray so we asked our driver to take us back. We got caught in the rain regardless, but it was a nice reprieve from the heat. We headed back by bike to the bungalow. Had a quick shower, then grabbed some dinner at an Indian place Justine and Beck had recommended. Pretty lousy food, sadly, so we must have ordered the wrong dishes.

The three of us had coffee for breakfast, then headed by minibus to the 4000 islands. A fairly uneventful trip, other than the slow-seeming Lao man who tried to grab everyone’s bag so he could make some money for transferring it to the tuk-tuk. I had no bag, so it wasn’t a problem for me. We took a boat to Don Det Island, and the three of us went looking for a room. It had obviously rained a lot the night previous, and the roads were a muddy mess. I offered to watch the bags (and secretly pretend they were my own for a while) while the others searched for accommodation. Lena and I ended up sharing a bungalow because she was afraid of the animals (which entails everything from rodents and geckos to the pesky flies that were everywhere on the island).

The three of us took a walk and grabbed some lunch, meeting up with two girls Lucio knew – Justine and Beck. Lucio wasn’t intereted, so Lena and I headed out for a walk on the island by ourselves. We reached the bridge (once an old railway bridge – although I can’t figure out why you’d need a railyway line on two small islands) and sat there for a while. There was a fare to cross so we opted to wait until the next day to cross. We circled the rest of the island, before making our way back to the bungalows.

We grabbed Lucio and headed to a bar with a nice sunset view (we were staying on Sunrise Blvd.). Had a snack and a drink there, watched the sun set, then headed to the same restaurant we ate breakfast at, and had some dinner.

The overnight bus dropped us off in the centre of Pakse. Usually you get dropped off in the most inconvenient of places, so that was sort of nice. Most people were heading to the 4000 islands immediately, but Lena, Lucio and myself were planning on spending the night so we went in search of a guesthouse. We found a decent one on the main road, and Lucio and I decided to share a room.

We met for beakfast, Lao coffee (with condensed milk, which is really quite good). Lucio was exhausted, but Lena and I were both interested in seeing the Bolaven Plateau’s coffee plantations and waterfalls. We asked in a few tourist offices, but they wanted far too much money. There was a cafe that supposedly had its own plantation and offered private tours for free. We headed there but, after our second coffee, discovered the tours were no longer offered. We asked a tuk-tuk driver what he’d charge, and bartered him down to a reasonable rate. We threw on our bathing suits and hopped on board.

Our first stop was a family-run tea and coffee plantation. We sampled some tea and looked around the grounds, but bought nothing. The first waterfall was across a valley, so we could get a nice look at it, but weren’t close enough to feel the mist or anything of that sort. At the second waterfall, our driver, Mr. Luey, joined us on the walk down to the waterfall’s base. The water was cold, but Mr. Luey stripped down to his underwear and hopped in. Eventually Lena and I relented and joined him in the cold water. It warmed up a little, but was still mighty cold, even with the air around us so hot. After the waterfall we headed for lunch and made our way back to Pakse.

In the evening I headed to the market to see if I could find some clothes, but the selection was pretty weak. We had dinner after that and spent some time on the internet before going to bed.

John and I woke up early to meet Zarko and Joanna for an early breakfast next to our guesthouse. After breakfast we hit the bank, but the ATM was down. We took a tuk-tuk to the Cambodian Embassy and applied for our visas. Pretty painless, but they wouldn’t be available for pickup until 4pm in the afternoon, so we had a lot of time to kill.

The other were heading to the Tourism Office, and I was heading to the Tourism Police, but they were conveniently located next door to each other. We were trying to flag down a tuk-tuk when a Belgian guy working in Laos offered us a lift in his SUV. He was heading to Cambodia for the upcoming long weekend.

At the Tourism Police I filled out a form and was told to return at 2pm in the afternoon. The others were still in the tourism office, so together we made our way to an internet cafe, then headed across the street to Joma cafe for some breakfast.

Spent much of the day either on the internet struggling to get my pictures uploaded (still way way behind) or eating/drinking. A little before two, I gathered my things and made my way to the tourism police.

Met Lucio at the office again, as well as a few others who had been victims of theft in Laos. The bag of one Toronto girl had been recovered by some locals who were still in the office. She gave them a hung of thanks, but she was overall pretty upset. She lost a lot of money, apparently, and most of what she got bag was soaked – since they’d thrown the bag in the river. Thankfully she still had her passport – as she’s inclined to head home early instead of spending another month travelling. We tried to dissuade her from leaving, but she was pretty keen to get out.

After half an hour of waiting, I paid 10000 kip ($1.25) for my Loss Report, then headed back to meet Zarko, Joanna, and John. We caught a tuk-tuk to the Cambodian Embassy, grabbed our visas, then made our way back to the guesthouse for an early dinner (me) and drink (them). I bid them adieu a little before 7, grabbed a shower then caught a songthaew to the bus station.

Got on the bus to Pakse, happy that there was a tad more leg room to deal with. A German girl, Lena, took the seat beside me so I chatted with her for a while before going to sleep.