Spunkeymonkey does Laos

Forget Cambodia. Laos is awesome. It is probably the only Asian country that is quiet and serene. I have been on the move since arriving 7 days ago in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh is very typical of any Asian city. Packed with people and animals and vehicles. Noisy, extremely dirty and impoverished. It's filled with falangs looking for cheap sex,booze and what they think is a good time. For some odd reason,beds here have very very hard pillows to go along with their lumpy mattresses. Set out the next day immediately for Laos.

From PhnomPenh,it's a long 10 hour bus ride to Strung Teung on the border. Strung Teung was the birthplace of the infamous torturer of the Pol Pot regime. On the bus,one unfortunate couple left their bag in the bus and lost USD 400 and their camera. When we reached Strung teung,we immediately took up an offer from the inimitable Mr.Ritchie.

For USD10,he took us across the Mekong,drove us to the border crossing 2 1/2 hours away.There,he negotiated for us to pay only USD2 for stamping purposes at the cambodian and laos checkpoints respectively. From the Laos checkpoint in the middle of nowhere,we were driven to the river and took a boat to Don Det. It was pitch black at only 7p.m,Mr.Ritchie tried to illuminate the way using his cellphone because the boatman did not have any lights on his boat!. The electric stormof the monsoon casted eerie glows throughout our ride. It took only 45 minutes to reach Don det in the darkness.

Don Det is a small island that you can circumvent in 40 minutes. It is one of 4000 islands located in the Mekong River as it goes through Southern Laos. On arrival,we went to Mama Rasta Guesthouse. Did not sleep the whole night because it was one of those ridiculously warm nights despite the thundershower. Woke up to find the world so bright at only 530a.m.

There are 2 sides to Don Det. Does not really matter which side you stay on. The Sunrise side meansyou can not sleep in. However, you at least get a fan,a big bed, hammock for only USD2. Breakfast costs around USD 1. The Sunset side faces more islands,paddy fields,mountains. It is quieter and cheaper. However,it is so tranquil on the islands anyway. All you want to do is lie in a hammock and read.

Left Don det that day for the mainland. For USD4.5,got a boat ride and a bus ticket to Pakse. Pakse is the largest town in Southern Laos. It is so small,even Ipoh is bigger than Pakse. The journey took 3 hours by an open air bus. On arrival in Pakse,went to Jasmin Indian Restaurant. It was apleasant surprise to find a place that serves Malay,Indian and Halal food. The food was so tasty and surprisingly faithful to the Malaysian style. The owner was very happy to converse in Malay with me. For USD4,i got a top notch lunch with tonnes of food. The owner had worked in Mamak stores in Brunei,Sabah and sarawak for nearly 8 years!.

Headed back to the South BUs terminal and caught a bus to Sekong,oneof the easternmost provinces in Laos. It is a very odd little town that has absolutely no infrastructure for tourists. After being unable to rent any bikes,motos nor find anyone who could you where to venture,hopped on another bus to Paksong. This took4 looong hours. It was well worth it.