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My time in Cambodia has come to an end. Siem Reap was good, the Angkor ruins obviously an attraction that can't be missed. It had a pretty good restaurant/bar area but I didn't find the food or night life to be that exciting. I put some photo's of when I went to Angkor on facebook.
So I am now in Laos, took a bus to Si Phan Don which is an area along the Meekong River where there are several islands. Si phan Don means 4000 Islands in Lao.
The bus ride to out of Siem Reap was interesting. Had to do a bit of back-tracking which involved a mini bus to begin with. It was a 10 seater and we had 15 people on board. Everyone thought that it was just a transfer bus so we got on without question. About half an hour into the trip we all started wondering how long we would be on the 'transfer' bus for. After some questioning of the driver we were told that it was about 4 hours until we got to the big bus! In addition to the over-crowded mini bus we stoped multiple times to re-fill the radiator with water, the last two times about 15 minutes apart.
Once we got to the big bus all was well. I wasn't sure whether i could actually get into Laos as some of the people on the bus I spoke to had got their visa in advance and even after speaking to Belinda it was looking like you needed to do that for the border crossing that i was heading for. But, I ended up speaking to a couple of Australians that said they were assured you could get the visa on the border so that gave me enough confidence to take the risk.
The island I stayed on in Si Phan Don was called Don Det. It is pretty small with only a handful of guest houses and a few restaurants. I met a group of three French guys and so shared a bungalow with one of them for the three nights i was there. On the second day we hired some bicycles and did a tour around the island and also another island that is joined by a bridge they charge you 20000 kip (about 3 dollars) to get across the bridge saying that it's to go see the waterfall, I said I didn't want to see the waterfall and they said I had to pay anyway. So we went to see the waterfall, it was actually pretty impressive. The third day I spent sitting on the small 'beach' (it's really just some sand that is used for the long boats to land on but I still think it classifies as a beach) and laying in a hammock reading a book and working on my tan. I felt a bit guilty for not going on a boat cruise to see some dolphins and waterfalls but was glad with my decision in the end.
So today I left the island and took a 3 hour bus trip north to Pakse. The town itself is not very exciting but there are some things to do out of town so I will spend a day or two here and then continue north to Vientianne.
- comments
mum Once again lots on new and exciting things i guess the small bus trip was one of those things greg talked about you have to do it there way to get the full benefit even if you thought the bus was suppose to be a transfer bus. Your blog entries are great it keeps us in touch with what you are doing, well now i can say i will see you next month take care my son, love you mum
Dad Hey mate your messages make me happy with all your stories of doing and meeting people as i feel you are very much enjoying your trip and have adapted to being away on your own. Although when you think of it you have been in Hobart on your own for quite a while. I guess Hobart and a another land is different to parents. Do you find it hard to communicate with other people. All the different languages there must be. I guess there would be a lot of hand waving going on. Keep enjoying mate and we will see you in 6 weeks. Love you mate. Dad.