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| Outside the gate before the trip |
We didn't go on an elephant trek, but we did get out of town. We decided to go to southern Laos to a place called Si Phan Don, or 4,000 Island. It is an archipelago on the Mekong between Laos and Cambodia. I had seen some pictures of it and it looked beautiful. Kyle and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and go on an adventure. It was pretty fun.
We actually spent New Year's Eve on the night bus to Pakse. We left around 8p.m. The night bus is a pretty good idea. You get on the bus, go to sleep, and wake up at your destination. The night bus is not designed for tall people, at least not tall people who share a bunk. Even though it was a long night, it was still better than taking a 10 hour bus during the day. We arrived and had some trouble figuring out where we were supposed to go next. We got on a bus, went two blocks, got new tickets, the bus driver took us back to where we were and told us to go with another driver in a minivan. We said hello to the new driver, gave him our luggage to put on top, he strapped everything on and said, "Wait here" before driving away. It was a nerve racking 20 minutes. He did finally show back up. We were put in the very front row, which wasn't secured to the floor so it was a wobbly 2.5 hour ride to the island. We took a little boat (ferry) to the island and had a little time to say hello to our friends Matt and Nicole before they headed back to Vientiane. They did give us a good recommendation on a place to stay and some good ideas for dinner and entertainment while we were there.
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| The King of Bus...still too small |
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| Happy New Year-on the King of Bus |
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| Ferry to Don Khong-the BIG island |
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| Evening view across the river |
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| A shot of our hotel from the river |
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The second day we went on a tour. There are a couple of famous waterfalls and some endangered dolphins we wanted to see. It was a nice day. It started off cloudy and cool. We took a long boat ride, a long bike ride, another boat ride, more bike riding, another boat ride, a van to and from another waterfall, and finally a boat ride home. By the end of the day, the sun had come out and I was fried-on the tops of my arms and face-a serious farmer's tan. Kyle was fine, but I was crispy.
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| Kyle on the bike ride |
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| Getting "life-jacketed up" before looking for dolphins |
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| The Irrawaddy Dolphin-this is a picture from the internet. I was too slow |
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| The first waterfall of the day |
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| The second waterfall of the day |
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| That is a LOT of water |
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| There were many other tourists around |
We ended up heading back to Vientiane the next evening on yet another night bus. This one was even smaller than before. It was once again, nice to be home. Enjoy the pictures. Love, M.
