Laos

Crossed from Kratchie (northern Cambodia) through to Don Deit (4000 islands) in southern Laos on the 1st of March. As usual there are the officials at the border crossing asking for US$1 for fees for the visa saying everyone pays $1. I asked them for a receipt for the money and who it is from and what it was for, they decided to give me my passport with no further requests. They must make a fortune with tourists crossing this border everyday and they just stick the money in their own pockets.

I stayed at the 4000 islands for 2 days... which was nice but way too many tourists so I left there and went through to a hillside village where there was some nice waterfalls... swimming holes, walks and elephants...
Here is me with Mumma Pap...She is a nice lady who runs some bungalows and a small restaurant.
Mumma makes the biggest pancake in the East... and the biggest soup!!

I spent a week there and finally dragged myself away from the bungalow early one morning to head a bit further north... made it to Sevaneket in the day but it was about 9 hours bus ride for a few hundred kms. Spent 2 nights here and then traveled north to Tha Keak for a few days.

I met a Spanish fellow in Tha Keak and we hired a bicycle each and went for a bit of a ride towards the east... There were some nice caves...
and a nice river where we saw a little kid playing with some butterflies...
had a bit of a swim and something to eat. Was a fairly hot day and the bike seat was very hard so I am having trouble sitting today. Overall was a good day though.
Tha Keak is a nice town by the Mekong river...
Leaving Tha Keak I saw some ladies here selling all sorts of roots, bark, wood etc etc...
Traveled north to Paxxen and spent the afternoon there.
Caught a truck north to Phonsavasn... for the next 200km, 12 hour ride over the mountains. I did this trip last year and was a highlight so thought I would do it again... No disappointment this time, was a long long drive many mountains...
Rivers...
Village people laughing and waving at the Falang (foreigner) in the back of the truck...
Here's an old truck on the side of the road being repaired...

Left Phonsavan early in the morning and headed to Luang Prabang.. this place is full of westerners... I have not seen so many for so long it is a bit of a shock coming here. Has to be done though because it is a main intersection.

Spend 2 days in Luang Prabang and then headed southwest to Sayabuli... A couple of nights there and then back to Luang Prabang. I ended up spending the rest of my time here. Went to some caves on the other side of the Mekong river...
Early morning Monks collecting their food...
Night Markets... and then to some waterfalls about 30ks south of town. ..They also had a bear zoo here at the waterfall park which was good... The waterfalls are really nice too and you can swim here. It was a bit cool on the day I went so I did not go swimming.

My visa ran out on the full moon 30th March so I had to leave Luang Prabang for the border town of Huay Xay. I was surprised on this trip s the bus broke down and this was the first tme a vehicle hs broken down this time for e in Laos. Last year a vehicle would break down every second day. We got nito Huay Xay few hours late and a few people were upset because they had connecting buses. Oh well they sorted something out and crossed the border this day. I stayed in town for the night as I had 1 more day before visa expired. I found a nice place for BBQ duck... and a couple of beers for my last night. This was one of the best BBQ ducks I have had.. very enjoyable.