7. Laos – Island Hopping on the Mekong

Our last post was from the town of Thakhek, after completing the scenic, eponymous Loop. We’ve since continued south following the Mekong on our way to the southern most tip of Laos and the famous riverine archipelago of Si Phan Don (4,000 Islands). The ride south was largely flat and not particularly interesting. Primarily rice fields (now dry stubble) with the usual collection of ramshackle villages spaced along the route. We put in a series of long days on the bike, averaging close to 100 km/daily, and given it’s supposed to be the coolest time of the year, it’s been bloody hot in the early afternoons. We’ve tried to avoid #13, the main highway, and kept to secondary roads along the river. As usual, getting good info on the route ahead has been a challenge. For instance, for the first days ride south, everyone kept insisting we couldn’t get beyond the village of Thakho as a bridge further south was out but, young Steve, a charming French cyclist (around-the-worlder) we met at Green Climber’s Home ensured us it was doable.

From Pakse we got an early start and pedalled hard for 42 kms to get to Wat Phu (a UNESCO World Heritage site) before the sun was too high in the sky. A couple of wrong turns and then flat, smooth, traffic-free riding got us there by 8:30 AM. This Wat (or Vat) is the most famous ancient ruin in the country. It was once the capital of the Hindu Khmer empire prior to world famous, Angkor Wat, becoming the centre. It has structures dating back to the 5th century AD and is one of the oldest places of worship in Southeast Asia.

After a good hour or two at Wat Phu, and despite the midday sun, we jumped back on the bikes for the long ride to the town of Soukhouma, a bustling service centre for the surrounding villages. We struggled to find a guest house and, more surprisingly, a decent looking restaurant, but in the end, we found what we needed and enjoyed our stay in this decidedly, non-tourist town. The following morning the road quickly deteriorated and despite our mapping apps indicating pavement, there was none to be had and we did at least 20 kms of rough, potholed, dirt road until, out of the blue we were suddenly on dead smooth pavement for the last 10 km into the next big village. We were giddy as we rode along, side by side, chatting effortlessly and covering ground. On dirt roads like this, the focus is on the road surface and little else.

We stopped for a cold drink at the village then jumped back on the bikes and just as we got moving we could see a truck coming toward us in a cloud of dust and thought ´Shit, more dirt road!´ We turned around and after the usual convoluted attempt at communicating with a couple of drivers they convinced us to cross the Mekong at their village and ride the main highway down to where we could catch another ferry back to our destination, the island of Don Khong. As we rode through town it was evident that some sort of festivity was underway.

As we continued south, we ran into 3 young French tourers. We had the usual pleasant exchange on the side of the road and then they informed us that our hoped-for ferry back to Don Khong did not accept bikes, and we’d have to continue south to a bridge. It must be our good looks ;), for as soon as we got to the river, a boatman immediately offered us a lift for the expected price (2 pass. & bikes for $4.70). Once in Muang Khong (the main town on the island) we soon realized there was an even bigger festival underway and that, in our serendipitous way, we had landed in the middle of it. That Sunday was to be the big race day, with race boats coming from up and down the Mekong.

The town was packed. A couple of dozen clothing vendors, with overflowing inventories had set up stalls, as had the usual array of even more, food stalls. A bunch of throw-darts-at-ballon’s-to-win-a-cheap-toy occupied one block as had a couple of small amusement park rides. As we biked through, we failed to pay much attention to the sound systems being set up.
The first guesthouse we checked into, we bailed after 15 minutes because of some nearby loud music. We repacked the bikes and headed up river to a hotel where we could no longer hear the music. Unwittingly, we had moved closer to the main music stage. As we walked by the stage on our way to dinner, a DJ was working an enormous sound system while across the street a band was warming up (the contrasting noise made it hard to know exactly what they were doing). The vendors and attendees, including little kids and grand parents, were all seemingly oblivious to the noise. Ironically, we ended up eating at the relatively quiet restaurant adjacent to the hotel we had bailed on! We got back to our room as the main music venue started up. The music was the most repetitious, techno/EDM, sort of thing, with some guy screaming/chanting/grunting lyrics on top. The bass was overwhelming. Our room was literally vibrating, it was so loud. It was God awful and it never stopped! By 2 AM, I felt like Manual Noriega of Panama, holed up in the Papal Anunciator’s residence while the US Marines blasted Guns & Roses at top volume at the building to flush him out. I, for one, was ready to surrender! Mercifully, it stopped at 2:30 AM. Shortly after, three guys show up on the balcony in front of our room and started chatting away, without any consideration for other guests. I couldn’t believe it, thinking my frazzled mind was hearing voices. I finally went out and shooed them away. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say it was one of the worst nights of my life (the AC also wasn’t working). We left town in a hurry in the morning.

The next two days were, in contrast, everything we could have asked for. The road south on Don Khong island was a quiet dead end that led to the small ferry crossing to the even quieter island of Don Son.

A last story. The next morning we were up early and headed for the border, confident in our fancy looking Cambodian visa and associated paperwork. Only to find out that we’d overstayed our Lao visa by 10 days and that we owed $160 USD. Shit! Way back when, when we got our Lao visa in Hanoi, the clerk made a point of telling us we has a 60 day visa, not the 30 day we expected. However, when we crossed the border, unbeknownst to us, the border official stamped and dated our passport with a 30 day validity. We stayed 40 days completely unaware and at this point had only $92, zero LAK and not an atm in sight. Another frustrating language hassle where we initially thought we were being taken and finally getting clarification from the Cambodian border official, that we in fact, were in the wrong. A subsequent strange process of trying to get cash from a local (never sure how that was to play out) and finally negotiating a ride back up the highway to the nearest atm…..which wasn’t working………waited till the adjoining bank opened….was about to get the cash only to be told our international VISA card was in Claire’s name (who was with our bikes 20 km down the highway)………and so on! Two hours later, $160 CDN short (don’t ask) we were in Cambodia riding the dusty 65 km to Stung Trent!