Savannakhet, Pakse & Bolivean Plateau

Once in Savannakhet, I walked down to the riverside where many mini-cafes were set-up, serving drinks and snacks overlooking the Mekong. I sat near to the ferry port, bought a bottle of the infamous Beer Lao and watched the overcrowded, overloaded ferry that I wasn't allowed onto arrive. The passengers disembarked and unloaded their merchandise from the boat bit by bit, it was so packed, it took forever for everything to be carried up the slip to the roadside. A pleasant place to sit and watch the river, the locals and Laos life go by. Around the rest of friendly Savannakhet, you see immediately the relaxed Lao lifestyle, people asleep or just lying around the front of their houses, many of which double as a shop, sheltering from the afternoon heat, monsoon rains and just letting the day roll on peacefully until something is required of them. The only buzz of activity arrived at end of school time when school children took over the streets, hanging around chatting and snacking with friends or whizzing around on their bicycles or motorbikes, yes even young children drive around on motorbikes here! But an hour later everything was back to normal, quiet, unruffled and soothingly tranquil, this is a town that almost defines the word 'relaxed'.

Moving on, I took a bus Southwards to Pakse which has a bit more of a town feel, not for that reason, but to try and get out to the Bolivean Plateau a forest area packed with wild waterfalls and forest exploration, which had been recommended to me. Being low season there were no groups or mini-buses to join so I hired a motorbike and drove the 50km there, past fruit stalls, small villages along the roadside, looking for the pointers that had been given to me by a tourist info cafe. I didn't find them at all so just followed any signs that signified a waterfall or site to be seen and although it turns out I missed one of the highlights (because I missed a major junction due to it being some 15km earlier than I had been advised) , I found some remote fruit farms, some apparently, newly discovered, little visited falls as well as some better known ones. So all in all, it was still a worthwhile afternoon dash. The nicest part might have been my failed search for a waterfall that brought me to a few scattered wooden houses, some coffee, tea and fruit plantations and some amused locals in traditional clothing, collecting fruit from the fields, who were clearly not expecting me, but kept smiling and chatting away to me although they knew I couldn't understand. The toughest part was trying to get to grips with using a motorbike on ice-like slippery mud paths, I slipped a couple of times but fourtunately came out unscathed.

Back in Pakse, I spent the evenings checking out the local cafes. There is an Indian cafe there run by an Indian family who migrated to Laos many years ago and now runs a cafe/tour agency, nice people and some nice Indian food, especially the breakfasts. I passed one tiny bar, where a group of locals were having a good time, celebrating a birthday, they invited me over as I walked by and I had a great, fun evening singing Lao songs with a few Beer Lao, they were mainly teachers or student teachers so were keen to practice and show off their English skills. But Pakse won't keep anyone there for long, so I turned down the offer of an interview for an English teaching job at their school and the next day headed down the Mekong to Champasak.