If we ever thought that Cambodia was bad in terms of scams and rip off attempts, we were reminded that there are worse places in the world.  One of those places is Laos.  Let me explain… We had a rather bitter introduction to the country and its people when we crossed the border from Cambodia.  We had booked a combination ticket to get us from Kratie in Cambodia to Don Det, one of the 4000 Islands in the south of Laos.  Unfortunately as luck would have it, we made an annoying and embarrassing travel mistake of not getting a piece of paper in our hands stating our destination from the Kratie backpackers who made arrangements for us.  Not thinking about it at the time due to the excitement of heading to a new country, we were picked up directly from our guesthouse as arranged, and headed off into the unknown of Laos.  During our trip up to the border, we changed bus twice and got to the border without incident, no questions asked.  Next thing we have an agent telling us it was USD35 for a Lao visa (our research told us it was USD30) and we had to pay an extra USD2 for a “Cambodian exit stamp” and USD3 for a “Lao entry stamp”.  We could have refused the agent’s help but we were stuck at a very quiet border crossing with no additional transport on the other side so could we really run the risk of declining his “help” and then being told there was no onward transport?  So out came the Dollars, money changed hands then we waited with some anxiety as we saw our passports disappear.  About an hour or so later, our passports with visa and entry stamp in hand, we trudged through no man’s land and to the waiting minivan.  Next thing all we hear from the agent is “Where are your tickets, where are your tickets?”  Now up to this point our tickets were never requested.  Just our luck we were the only two of a party of 15 who didn’t have tickets so the agent refused to let us into the minibus.  This was real rotten luck as the nearest thing to a town or any civilization of some sort was over 20km away.  The scamster agent then called his so-called boss to ask advice and he relayed the message to us that the boss said we can’t go any further.  Oh (insert expletive here)… Ultimately we had to bribe the scamster with USD15 to get us to Don Det, one of the 4000 islands which was to be our destination.   At this point we were both extremely annoyed and decided we were not spending more than necessary in Laos, be it time or money!  We were told by a fellow traveller who made that border crossing often that he has been witness to such a scam every time he has done the trip and we shouldn’t feel too bad… we weren’t the only ones!  Comforting!

Ultimately we arrived on Don Det and with heavy hearts walked to the riverside guesthouses to find a place to stay.  We found a bungalow right on the river’s edge away from the noisy crowds, a little haven of bliss, pretty and tranquil, which sort of made up for our sour start.  We saw some spectacular sunrises from our little porch while lazing away in the hammock and got some great photos.  Our morning wake-up call wasn’t the shrill chirps of the birds in the surrounding trees.  Rather we were woken to the sounds of cows braying as they made their way down to the river to escape the rising heat of the day and wallow in the water like hippopotamuses!

A few days of R&R and exploring Don Det and neighbouring Don Khone (which by the way also charged a 25 0000 funny money “tourist tax”) made up our time in the 4000 Islands.  This about sums up our impression of Laos so far…. you have to pay for everything… another reason not to linger too long.  We rented bikes and I think the only thing that was free was the space we could park them when we arrived at some rapids which the Laotians incorrectly advertise as a waterfall.  What was really interesting to read about these rapids is that they provided a supposedly insurmountable obstacle to a French expedition party sent to take two gunboats up the Mekong River which were to protect French interests in the area.  Not to be overcome, the French decided to build a railway across Don Khone which would haul the gunboats across the island, bypassing the impassable rapids, where after they could be refloated further up the Mekong to continue their journey.  Anyway the bikes were a great way to explore, and we realized how lucky we were to have chosen our guesthouse location as parts of the island were really touristy and noisy.  The 4000 Islands are also home to another small pod of about five Irrawaddy dolphins.  The sad thing is that the World Wildlife Fund is up in arms because the Laotian government now has plans to build a hydroelectric dam which may change the course of the Mekong River and threaten the already vulnerable dolphin population.  Hopefully the dam won’t come to fruition.  We noticed while exploring that the locals were really sullen – they didn’t smile or greet when you greeted them, and they gave off a bit of an unfriendly vibe, almost like you are putting them out by being there.  Also, a completely different experience compared to Cambodia was that the kids there were constantly shouting hello as we passed but in Laos we just got sour looks.

After a restful few days, we made a move to Tha Khaek to head to a smaller village where there is a 7.5km long cave that can be explored by long tail boat.  We caught a boat from Don Det to the mainland, waited ages for a bus only to have to change busses because the aircon was dripping on everybody sitting against the left window.  So we climbed aboard another bus and off we went, together with a drunken “British” backpacker who spilled his drink all over the driver when the bus hit a bump.  I say “British” in inverted commas because his accent kept slipping and we were not sure where he actually came from.  This was at 12h00 and the guy was already pissed out of his mind.  After a relatively annoying three hours we arrived in Pakse to change busses to Tha Khaek.  It was supposed to be a “VIP” bus according to the booking agent but was more of a dodgy local thing loaded to the rafters.  We left Pakse late and there were a multitude of delays as the driver picked up more and more passengers, even loading a motorbike onto the roof at one point.  We were supposed to arrive in Tha Khaek at 21h00 but we only got to a stop 100km away from there at 21h30.  After offloading some passengers, we continued on into the night only to hear a loud KA-DONK… something had broken and the smell of burning rubber filled our nostrils…  Off come the back tyres to check the damage, and without a word they get put back on again and we drove slowly along the road to the nearest mechanic.  Of course with it now being the middle of the night, anybody able to help was asleep so we spent an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in our seats, with the bus parked on the side of the road waiting for daybreak. We were sitting near a group of four elderly ladies who spent a lot of the evening getting high on some kind of leaves they had been chewing on, giggling and cackling away as the juice stained their lips and teeth a horrible black.  At one stage they pulled out their dinner wrapped in banana leaves – fried rice teeming with live ants – which they kindly offered to share with us but we politely declined! At first light the sound of hammering woke us up as the driver and mechanic got to work to fix the problem – a broken compressed air shock absorber.  Having improvised a solution, the bus eventually got moving again, lumbering along at about 20km/hr, the lack of a shock absorber causing a spine-jarring jolt with each bump.  But the delay was forgiven as we were treated to fresh watermelon by the bus driver’s wife, their way of apologising to the passengers!  We eventually arrived in Tha Khaek 24 hours later and having missed the connecting bus to the village we were forced to spend the night in a dodgy hotel.  We spent our time there wandering around a dirty, dinghy town, looked longingly over the river that separates Laos from Thailand, and made our way back to the hotel to try and get a good night’s sleep.

The following morning we caught a local minibus to travel to the village of Ban Khoun Kham.  We drove through some spectacular mountain scenery and up very steep gradients, so steep that at some stages the bus laboured so much, the driver’s assistant stood by the open door ready to jump out with a cement block to place behind the tyres to prevent us rolling back in case the bus stalled!  Upon arrival we found a basic crash pad opposite the bus station and negotiated a price for the night.  Although just a simple bamboo hut, with a rudimentary bucket toilet, we were at least protected from the multitude of mosquitoes by an intact mosquito net.  After enjoying the best iced coffee ever brewed from the proprietor’s wife, we headed out to Kong Lor cave.  We climbed aboard a small but long dugout canoe powered by an outboard motor and headed into the darkness!  What a surreal experience!  The limestone formations inside the cave were fantastic, and we had the opportunity to walk through parts of the cave when we needed to get out of the boat and clamber through some shallower areas of the river.  It was pitch black inside except for the light from our head torches.  The water was icy cold on our feet as we had to get out and push the boat up some small rapids, but the ride back downriver gave us a mini thrill as we rafted over the same rocks.  The cave was definitely the “wow” of Laos.  We have both never seen anything like it and funny enough it is not a huge tourist trap, being a bit off the beaten track, which made it an even better experience.  We even found the locals to be friendlier in the village which made our time there a lot more enjoyable!  You may have also noticed that aside from the reference to the best iced coffee, we haven’t written a thing about the food in Cambodia or Laos.  Besides the basic fried rice varieties, there wasn’t a single thing in terms of local cuisine that stood out for us as being something we just had to sample.

Because of the local attitude and lack of other major sights, we decided to cut our losses and bail on Laos.  We bussed up to Vientiane, the capital city, and crossed the border to Thailand via the Friendship Bridge without incident.  Thai beaches here we come!  We had considered travelling further north to Luang Prabang and going by river boat across the border at the town of Huay Xai but we heard some negative reports about this trip so decided against it.  Having been back from our backpacking adventure for quite some time we think back and reminisce, hindsight often making us wonder if we missed out by cutting our time short in Laos.  I suppose the beauty of travelling is the completely subjective nature of it – “One man’s heaven is another man’s hell”.  Chatting to fellow travellers along our journey about their experiences in Laos provided a range of opinions, both positive and negative.  This is the one country we did not buy a fridge magnet from, and the one country where we did not send a postcard home, but as with Cambodia, we have no regrets!  And even though Laos might have been a negative experience for us, we still are thankful for the great story that came from it!