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For me it was more than 7 years ago that I was last in the country of the thousand elephants, the visa-runs to Vientiane not included. For one who has never been there first a small impression of this country that is land-locked by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma.

It’s a country with about 5 to 6 million people who have been in the past history a play ball of the Khmer kingdom and the Siamese kingdom. After that it became a victim of the French expansion drift, and in more recent history it became the battleground between communism and capitalism. As a result of that the north has strong ties with China and Vietnam, and the south feels closer with Thailand and Cambodia. While traveling in this wonderful country you will see traces of history everywhere; the Old Russian buildings, French colonial houses, temples in Thai style and temples in Khmer style. And in the politics you see the Vietnamese communism. In the real life of today Laos seems to have become an economical province of Thailand. The Lao people are watching Thai TV, listing to Thai music and they all can speak and read Thai. As the Lao currency, the kip, is so un-useful in daily life (the biggest note is 20,000kip or 80thb or 2 US$) they all use the Thai baht as the second (un)official currency. Of course followed by US$ as the Euro is practical still unknown there. In the meanwhile the financial investments from Thailand are growing by the day, as one (1) of the 5 (yes 5!) GSM networks is 50% owned by Thailand’s biggest wireless network provider.

Well my tour of duty began with an Air Asia flight from Krungthep (Bangkok) to Ubon Ratchathani where I could see the airstrip from my hotel room. This military and civilian airport is actually located in the middle of town. In the 60’s a US air force base for the infamous flights to Vietnam & Laos and later also to Cambodia. In the evening I did meet my fellow group travelers and the next day we would begin our journey to Laos. From Ubon it’s a 2-hour drive to the border town Chong Mek, where you can cross the border to Laos. When entering Laos you will get a VOA (Visa On Arrival) for 15 days. It costs 30us$ or 1500thb and you will need one (1) passport sized photo. By the way, when you arrive in Vientiane you can extend your visa at the immigration office in town for 2us$ a day. Overstay is a criminal offence and will cost you 5us$ a day for any overstay, and maybe even deportation and/or jail! It is at this border crossing where it is also possible to go to Laos with your own transport (car or whatever), but you should buy ‘on the spot’ insurance for 500thb.

Our final destination that day would be the in the jungle-built Tad Fan Resort at Paxong, high on the Boloven plateau. But first we would visit the old Khmer temple in Champasak, the Wat Phu Champasak. From the border town it was an easy and good road to Pakse, the place where the river Se reaches the Mekong River. About 30km after Pakse we made a ferry crossing over the Mekong to Champasak. Until now the road were very good, something that I had not expected. The village of Champasak is along the banks of the Mekong and since it’s a popular place for backpackers it’s also full of guesthouses, restaurants and even two (2) real hotels. The temple itself is about 10-km outside the village and build upon the slopes of the mountain of Champasak (the name of the temple says it all). The temple is a World Heritage Site and you have to pay 3us$ pp entrance fee. Some books say you can visit the temple by bicycle, but that means that you can ride TO the temple from the entrance, not IN or AROUND the temple, because like I already said, it’s built on the slopes of the mountain. Once walking up the steep stairs you see a beautiful view of the valley of Champasak, and of course the remains of the old Khmer temple. For visiting the temple you will need at least two (2) hours and a good condition (health).

The Lao have an old saying about why this temple is never really finished. As the all area, including what is now called Thailand, was all in the former ancient Khmer Kingdom. The people of Champasak did send their people helping to build other temples in what is now called Thailand, but because of the beautiful Thai lady’s the men did never return and thus their own temple could never be really finished.

After our visit we continued our journey in the big open pickup truck and at sunset we did arrive at the beautiful jungle setting of Tad Fan Resort. It’s located on the famous Boloven plateau, between the jungle and the coffee plantations built by the French. During the war this area was a battle zone, but now you can make beautiful trekking in the bomb and mine free jungle area and visit one of the many waterfalls that you can find here. While waiting for our dinner I started to understand what was meant by “Laos, country without a hurry”. Well, the time between ordering your food and actually really getting your food is enough to make a short trekking. By the way, a ritual that would be repeated everywhere in Laos.

We did stay for two days in Tad Fan Resort and even I made a half-day trekking (all arranged by the hotel). From here we would travel to the most southern point of Laos “thousand islands”, where the Mekong river has created a landscape of  a “thousand” islands. On the way to Don Khong we made a stop at Ban Khiang Ngong where we could make a beautiful elephant trip through the jungle to visit the remains of an old temple. The mahouts of these elephants are Suwaai, who also live near the city of Surin in Thailand, and there they are also known as mahouts. The elephant trips cost 5us$ pp for one (1) hour. And as it can be bloody hot so please take an umbrella with you!

In the afternoon we did arrive at Don Khong (an island in the Mekong River) and as the only bank was closing within 15min we first made a stop at the bank. ATM? The Lao people do not even know what it is. No, you will need an old fashioned real bank with real cold hard cash to get money in exchange. So with 18 people we entered the bank, which looked more like an abandoned bunker. I was afraid that this would take hours but they were surprisingly efficient. In the first room was the administration paper-work stretched on the floor, in the second room were 3 desks. At the first desk the money that you wanted to change was checked, and at the second desk you did get a paper with the amount that you wanted to change and how much Lao kip you would get for it. At the third desk everything was checked again and given to someone in the third room. In this room were 3 bulks of money on the floor. In the left corner us$, in the right corner Thai baht and in the middle the Lao kip. After some counting you are given some large bundles of Lao kip. Use it quickly before it’s worthless.

So after the bank stop we finally arrived at Pone’s Guesthouse along the Mekong River, which has a good restaurant overlooking the Mekong River. Don Khong is a popular island and it’s full of guesthouses and restaurants. There is even an internet shop. Yes, the results of backpacker Lonely Planet is sometimes devastating. It’s a small and cozy island and from here we made a boat trip the next day.

Early in the morning we were picked up by our boat and after a trip of about 45-min over the Mekong River we arrived at Don Kone where you can see the remains the one and only railway that Laos ever had and that was build by the French. The French wanted to transport their coffee-beans to Cambodia but it was impossible to cross this area by boat, so on one island they built a loading platform and there started the railroad that would cross the island via a bridge to Kone Island. There it crossed this island to the other side where it was put on boats again. On Don Kone you can even see the remains of a French locomotive. We made a short walking over the green island and passed some villages and temples to end up at Kone waterfall, which is actually a huge rapid in the mighty vein of the Mekong River region. We walked back to the boat which brought us back to the mainland where we took a pickup truck to the border area with Cambodia. From here we took small boats to a dead-end of the Mekong, which actually looks like huge lake. And here it is where you can spot the famous Sweetwater Mekong dolphins. At one side is Cambodia and on the other side is Laos, between there in this dead-end of the Mekong we really did see a few times the green and black dolphins. It was an amazing trip, one to never forget! In the afternoon we drove back to the mainland across Don Khong where we took a very small boat back to the other side where our hotel was.

After 6 days in the south of Laos it was time to start traveling to the north. With our big open truck we would travel all the way back to Pakse again, where we would take the VIP night bus to Vientiane, which was to be our starting point for traveling far up north to very near the Chinese border. But that’s another story again.

Chang Noi