Si Phan Don & Vientiane, May 8 to May 13 (Perry)

SI PHAN DON

After a short but enjoyable stay in Pakse, we continued our travels southward to Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands).  At the southern most point of Laos where the Mekong river can be as  wide as 14 km in raining season, Si Phan Don is a seemingly never ending mixture of land and river making up an impressive collection of islands.  For travelers though, there are 3 main islands; Don Khong, Don Khon, and Don Det.  For us, the decision as to where to stay came down to either Don Khon or Don Dhet.  We quickly decided on Don Khon.  Actually, it was more like we ruled out Don Det.  Lonely Planet does warn that Don Det may be the “Vang Vieng of the south” (read Vang Vieng blog for complete details).  We are not ones to religiously follow Lonely Planet, but there were other arguments against Don Det.  Posted on the back of the door of our guesthouse in Pakse was a brief warning regarding the island.  Little things like don’t drink the water and bring a torchlight were friendly, common sense reminders from the guesthouse owners.  More interesting were the numerous additional comments past travelers had added; most notably, “Check the support beams on your guesthouse because ours fell into the river while we were sleeping, with us and all of our belongings inside.”  I suppose you get what you pay for at $1 or $2 per night . . .

After a quick two hour mini-van ride from Pakse to the town of Nakasang, we boarded a long tail boat to complete the journey to Don Khon.  There we found a gem called the Sala Don Khone, which offered really nice floating huts along the river.  Seemed like the perfect spot to relax.

Now, Jen and I had been in Southeast Asia for at least 3 months by that time, so we should be able to handle heat.  However, the weather in Don Khon was unbearably hot.  Our original plan was to stay for three nights on the island, but with the excruciating heat, and the fact that the island’s electricity is provided entirely by generators which run only from 6pm to 2am (i.e.  nullifying the minimal impact of our ceiling fan), in the end we decided two nights was enough.

Other than the stunning sight of the Mekong river and the relaxed atmosphere of the islands, the main attraction of Si Phon Don is the Irrawaddy Dolphin, an endangered fresh-water dolphin that resides in the Mekong near Don Khon.  In fact, our understanding is that there are only 12 left in existence in this area.  

The day that we arrived, we hired some peddle bikes with good intentions of touring not only Don Khon but Don Det as well (the two are connected by a bridge).  Prior to our arrival, the few km bike ride sounded like a piece of cake.  However, prior to our arrival, I didn’t realize that simply laying around and breathing would be too tiring.  (Did I mention that it was really, really hot?)  We settled for a bike around Don Khon, and learned from the local fishermen that the best time to see the dolphins was either before 9:00am or after 3:00pm in the afternoon.  Deciding that we would wake up at 5:30am the next day to avoid the mid-day heat, we had an early dinner and headed back to our guesthouse.  Despite the heat we were both able to fall asleep early with relative ease.  

Around 4am the next morning, our peaceful slumber came to an abrupt end.  With what I believed to be the screams of a dying cat we were rudely awakened.  So bad were the noises that Jen even rolled over and said, and I quote, “Can you please go and drown that cat?  Please?”  Despite the early rise, we excitedly headed off to the docks to catch a boat.  Actually, I was excited because for some reason I really wanted to see the dolphin.  Let’s just say that Jen was conscious.  Upon arrival, we were greeted by a friendly local fisherman who said that he would take us out for the morning.  After waiting for him to finish his early morning coffee we set off along the Mekong to hopefully catch a glimpse of the dolphins.

The early morning start ended up being a great decision.  Other than some local fishermen, Jen and I had the amazing scenery all to ourselves.  After about 30 minutes our guide stopped at some large rocks close to where the dolphins are known to be.  Patiently we waited for the dolphins to make an appearance.  At this point, I was really trying not to get my hopes up.  I mean, with only 12 dolphins in the area, what were the chances that we would see them?  Well, within 5 minutes of our arrival both Jen and the guide spotted a fin.  Me, I was looking in the wrong direction.  I was crushed.  Surely that would be the only sighting of the day.  I tried to keep up a positive outward appearance but inside I was dejected and was ready to pack it in.  Then suddenly I saw it.  About 30 meters away I saw the faint sight of a fin and just as quickly as it appeared it was gone.  I was elated.  After that, the dolphins began appearing more frequently and much closer.  It was as if the dolphins could sense my excitement.  Hey, it’s possible.

After about 30 minutes our guide offered (for an additional 30,000 kip) to take us further south to a nearby waterfall.  Returning to land and hoping aboard a taxi bus, we headed off to Khone Phapheng Waterfall.  Actually, Khone Phapheng is the largest waterfall, by volume, in SE Asia and it did not disappoint.  The best part of the waterfall trip though was when our guide had to refill his fuel tank.  After sending us back to the boat explaining that he had to buy some gas for the return trip, he quickly returned with a blue plastic bag full of gas and using a water bottle as a funnel, we were ready to go.  It was funny to see Jen scold our local guide when he tossed the used bag into the river.  He did retrieve it although he simply picked it up and threw it in another boat.  I’m sure that bag is somewhere in Cambodia or Vietnam by now.

After what seemed like a full and long day, we returned to our guesthouse.  Actually it was only 11:00 am but we were still pretty tired.  The rest of the day we spent avoiding the sun and trying to beat the heat.  Despite the beautiful surroundings, we came to the conclusion that we would leave the next day and head off to Vientiane.  

VIENTIANE

The trip back to Vientiane would take us back to Pakse where we would hop aboard the beloved sleeper bus once more.  Still overheated from our time in Si Phan Don, the air-con in the bus was a welcome treat.  Arriving in Vientiane in the early hours of the morning, we headed straight to Joma, our favorite coffee shop from Luang Prabang which also has a location in the capital.  For the next few hours we relaxed, drank a lot of coffee and enjoyed the free wifi.  At around noon, we decided it was time to look for some accommodations.  

Taking the initiative (for once) I set off alone and on foot.  I pride myself in my sense of direction and usually it’s pretty good but this time I was way off.  Despite having a map in hand and having carefully marked off the locations of a few potential guesthouses, I basically spent the next couple of hours walking around aimlessly in the heart of Vientiane.  Completely frustrated and extremely sweaty, I was on my way back to Joma to admit my failure to Jen, when I found myself in front of the Family Hotel.  Normally I wouldn’t even bother going into a place like this as it appeared to be out of our price range but I figured what have I got to lose.  Well, looks like the ol’ intuition at least was intact.  It was a brand new hotel, the rooms were really nice and reasonably priced, and the staff was very friendly.  As I proudly marched my way back to Joma, the Vientiane skies opened up and it continued to rain for pretty much the rest of the day.  That was fine with us though.  Jen and I were feeling pretty lazy and happy to spend a day drinking coffee and getting caught up on emails, photos, and news.  As a bonus, we met a super nice couple also seeking shelter from the rain named Richard and Emily.  Originally from New Zealand but living and working in London for the past 5 years, they were really interesting people.  We ended up chatting over lunch and coffee and had dinner and drinks with them later on that evening.

When we returned to the guesthouse to check in (by the way, Jen was impressed with my find) we discovered that we were the very first guests of the hotel.  In fact after we returned from dinner with Richard and Emily that evening, the receptionist asked if they could take our photo the next day at 10 am for their website.  I’m not sure if anyone has noticed from our photos or not, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve been sporting my new Puma hat almost 100% of the time (thanks in large part to a “haircut” I received in Vang Vieng).  Feeling a bit excited for our “photo shoot” we decided that we would look a bit more presentable than usual.  I did my hair and Jen put on a dress, ditching her lululemon gear for the day.  As we ate breakfast we eyed the hotel clock and as the time approached 10 am, I tried to contain my excitement.  But as it reached 10:30 and still no sign of a photographer, I tried to hide my disappointment.  So we decided to head out and rent a scooter to check out some of the local sights.  I was happy again.  

While Vientiane may be the capital of Laos, we didn’t find that much to fill up our time.  Sure, we had some good meals and the sights that we saw were pretty nice but coupled with the rain and our general laziness, we really didn’t do too much other than take it easy.  Besides, both Jen and I were pretty excited for Vietnam which would be our next destination.  

We both enjoyed our time in Laos.  I think Jen best summed it up with the following quote, “It’s like the Saskatchewan of SE Asia”.  Stuck in the middle between Thailand and Vietnam, there’s no sea, but the people are super nice.  It’s a great place to visit and in the end, you like it but you’re not always completely sure why.

Oh, and when we checked out of the Family Hotel, the manager explained that because of the rain the photographer was not able to make it the previous day.  I quickly offered that we could take the photos and email them to her.  Not sure when the website will be up but bookmark www.familyhotellaos.com to check us out.  Yippee!!!

For photos go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen