Ubon to Pakse

06/10/12/ to 11/10/12 : After a long train journey (10 hours in sleeping class with air con, and only 4 hours late), we finally arrived in Ubon Ratchathani. Ubon is the biggest city in the Isaan region, but sees very few tourists, (we saw only 3 in 5 days). There wasn't much to see in Ubon itself, but a couple of things nearby. We decided to rent a scooter to explore the area and visited temples, national parks and villages in the province. One of the villages was famous for its brass and silk products, and we stopped to watch a woman weaving some silk (she might have been there a long time finishing whatever she was making). We also went to a large supermarket (equivalent of Tesco/Carrefour) where you could buy food, clothes, guitars and motorbikes. Most people we met in restaurants, temples and markets had a very limited english, so our phrase book came in quite handy. We also saw some interesting food in the markets, including barbequed frog on a stick. Flora decided to buy a handbag from the market, which although has come in handy, does have the smell of aged fish.

At the end of our time in Ubon, we met a group of young thai people who spoke very good english and they helped us order some food in a local restaurant. We met one of them (his name was Gai) for a drink the next evening. Gai was a 22 year old student who worked with children to teach them english. He was also part of an organisation to help the young community learn english and told us that they are always looking for english speaking volunteers to come and help (so if anybody’s interested we can put you in touch).

11/10/12: By the end of our stay in Ubon we’d grown fond of the place and were a little bit sad to leave, however we made our way (by Taxi) to the bus station to get our ride across the border into Laos. After 3hrs (including half an hour to get our visas) we arrived in Pakse, Laos and immediately felt the heat and dust. A few (older) people speak French here, but on the most part people speak Laos only and limited english (hello and a wave). After withdrawing some cash and realising we were millionaires (12,500 Kip = £1), we hired another scooter (manual this time), packed a small overnight backpack and set off for a circuit of the Bolaven Plateau.

We stopped near a river and a set of 3 waterfalls at Tad Lo. Here we chose a guesthouse and after a dip in the waterfall, we met some local girls who insisted we drink with them. They offered us some beer (we accepted as we didn't even have a bottle of water at the time) and we sat on the rocks with them. They seemed eager to improve their english (mostly lyrics to songs) and they let us listen to some Lao pop songs. They invited us to spend a night at a karaoke 10 km away, but we declined as it was a bit far and driving (and after drinking Beerlao) at night was a bit dangerous.

We then returned to the guesthouse where we were the only foreigners and were invited to eat as there was a funeral for a lady who had just passed away and who lived there (a good innings at 99). We thought it rude to refuse as they insisted for us to sit with them (and we were hungry too), so we ate very well and had a good chat with two gentlemen (both with good english) from the village. We woke up the next morning to find several bhuddist monks in the living room chanting and inviting people to pray. We were welcomed to join but we had to leave. We thanked the lady owner who spoke french and we left for Paksong.

We moved on to our next stop on the plateau, passing by several dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, cows, wild boar, goats, pot holes and children as we went. Everybody we met waved and shouted Sai Ba Dee (Hello) to us as we went past and Dave was in charge of the waiving behind. We decided to stop in a village and have a walk. A man shouted something at us and went running into his house. Then he came out with a bunch of bananas and invited us to buy them for 5,000 kip (20p). We did as we were hungry and they made a nice lunch. We dodged more dogs, cows and pigs on our way and after a lovely cool night in the mountains (24 degrees), we visited another waterfall Tad Nyeung for a lovely refreshing dip and chat with a volunteer called Alex who was teaching english as well as being the local jazz musician, chef, nurse, walking guide and all round good guy. He introduced us to the owner who had spent 50 years in France and had moved back to Laos to retire (and run a coffee plantation, guesthouse and restaurant). We had good fun chatting to him and had the best coffee ever and some barbequed pork. He then offered us some of the local tipple (see picture) and tea. It was actually not bad despite appearances but quite strong. We left as we would have had even more if we had stayed and still had 40 km to do by motorbike.