So I'm back in Thailand and currently sitting in an airport marvelling at how good WIFI is in this region. Shame on you, Sydney. Shame on you.
I was quite sad to leave Pakse and the friends I made there. I felt particularly sorry for the Lao staff who have people coming and going all the time, especially when they stay for a year or more and then leave. But anyway, that was always the plan and even though my passport was held over a weekend by the police I managed to get away only one day after I planned. The reason I didn't leave the day that I intended was that the bus was full. And by full I mean I couldn't buy two tickets. I bought two tickets because the boss in Pakse strongly advised me to do so. The bus is a sleeper bus, and they put two people in each bunk (each bunk is probably just over a metre wide). So unless you're travelling with a friend who you like to snuggle with for 12 hours it's not much fun. Tash, if you're reading this I know that you're wishing you were here for that snuggle trip.
I had a really nice weekend before leaving Pakse and on Sunday after going to a village church and performing an item (a pretty darn good rendition of 'Jesus loves me') , we went to visit an old temple ruin called Wat Phou (pronounced 'what poo'). The name is funny, yes, and stays funny for quite a long time, but the temple was pretty cool. It's in the same style as Angkor Wat, and though much much smaller, there are also many, many less tourists. The road getting there was pretty potholey though and the bike I was on got a flat tire. We got it fixed at a restaurant/guesthouse/wooden-bowl-making/mechanics shop. It cost about $3. Unfortunately I also had my first epic sunburn of the trip. That night we had a very nice dinner on a rooftop of a hotel. It started to rain so they put a big umbrella over us, and one of the waiters had to stand there making sure it didn't move. (It felt too mean to take a photo but boy did I want to!)
Now after spending a day in Vientiane and re-visiting my favourite faux-french monument, eating some Scandanavian bakery goodness and also hanging out with Graeme Anderson's mummy and daddy, on my way to Chiang Mai.
I was quite sad to leave Pakse and the friends I made there. I felt particularly sorry for the Lao staff who have people coming and going all the time, especially when they stay for a year or more and then leave. But anyway, that was always the plan and even though my passport was held over a weekend by the police I managed to get away only one day after I planned. The reason I didn't leave the day that I intended was that the bus was full. And by full I mean I couldn't buy two tickets. I bought two tickets because the boss in Pakse strongly advised me to do so. The bus is a sleeper bus, and they put two people in each bunk (each bunk is probably just over a metre wide). So unless you're travelling with a friend who you like to snuggle with for 12 hours it's not much fun. Tash, if you're reading this I know that you're wishing you were here for that snuggle trip.
I had a really nice weekend before leaving Pakse and on Sunday after going to a village church and performing an item (a pretty darn good rendition of 'Jesus loves me') , we went to visit an old temple ruin called Wat Phou (pronounced 'what poo'). The name is funny, yes, and stays funny for quite a long time, but the temple was pretty cool. It's in the same style as Angkor Wat, and though much much smaller, there are also many, many less tourists. The road getting there was pretty potholey though and the bike I was on got a flat tire. We got it fixed at a restaurant/guesthouse/wooden-bowl-making/mechanics shop. It cost about $3. Unfortunately I also had my first epic sunburn of the trip. That night we had a very nice dinner on a rooftop of a hotel. It started to rain so they put a big umbrella over us, and one of the waiters had to stand there making sure it didn't move. (It felt too mean to take a photo but boy did I want to!)
leading up to the Wat
stairs... (we saw a guy at the bottom carrying a pram..)
the temple
ohh flat tire
Now after spending a day in Vientiane and re-visiting my favourite faux-french monument, eating some Scandanavian bakery goodness and also hanging out with Graeme Anderson's mummy and daddy, on my way to Chiang Mai.
don't need to go to Paris anymore!
Oh Clari! I only wish I was there to snuggle with you! What's a trip without my Clari snuggle? I'd share a meter space with you any day of the week and twice on Sunday's!
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