August 29, 2007

Bolaven Plateau (LAOS)

Twin Waterfalls and Heading to Bangkok

Our streak of early mornings continued unabated this morning as we rose to catch the 7am sawngthaew to Pakse. There was a light rain the entire morning so we sat crouched (and freezing) inside for the four hour journey.

When we finally reached Pakse we hired a local sawngthaew driver to take us the remaining 50km to a set of twin waterfalls we heard were amazing (there are pictures of the falls posted through Laos). As we were planning on crossing back into Thailand later in the day we were worried about making it to the border before it closed, and we simply couldn't risk taking local transport.

Our attempts to bargain for a cheap ride meant we ended up with a cheap sawngthaew, and on the way to the falls it began to fail. After stopping at a local gas station and working on the engine we set off again, and fortunately there were no hiccups.

When we arrived at the entrance to the park we were somewhat put off by the lack of tourists and the rainy, dreary weather. However, our spirits quickly lifted as we neared the falls and heard the thunderous crashing of water. Despite the nasty weather, the twin falls were attention-grabbing and well worth the effort spent getting out here.

We decided to eat lunch at a small Thai restaurant (penang curry and mixed vegetables served over white rice) while overlooking the falls. Afterward, we hung around for a while longer to enjoy our last moments at the falls, and then we bought a few knick-knacks from the stalls stationed outside.

We rode the sawngthaew back to Pakse and hopped in an old-school taxi  for the one hour ride to the Laos-Thailand border. We crossed just before the border closed for the day and then took a man up on his offer to drive us to the nearest transport hub, Ubon Ratchathani. We found it strange the man was driving us so far for only 100 baht/person, but the reasoning became clear after 15 minutes when he pulled off on the side of the road. Shortly afterward, another car pulled up behind us and we switched into a beat up sedan that was heading in the same direction. Everything made more sense now because this car was in horrible condition, and after ten minutes of driving Jo and I smelled gas! In the back of the car was a propane tank with tubing connecting the tank to the underside of the car. We never figured out what the propane was powering, but we stopped at five gas stations for the two hour ride - never filling up more than 15 seconds on any stop! Jo and I were quite worried on the ride, but there wasn't much we could do except continue onward.

We reached Ubon Ratchathani safely and caught an overnight bus to Bangkok with only fried rice and potato chips for the long ride.