Savannakhet, Pakse and Siphandon (Laos): relatives, mosquitoes and excellent food

25 October - 7 November 2010

After 10 hours in a crowded bus, I arrived in Savannakhet, second-largest city in Laos (after Vientiane). It was dark, i was hungry and I felt really sick. That was the first time since the beginning of my trip that i missed home... but it was for a very short period of time. I went to sleep at 9PM that night. The next morning, everything was fine again.

I spent 3 days in Savannakhet, visiting some relatives. Very sweet couple. They took me out for dinner and showed me around. They even took me to Xeno, a small village next to Savannakhet because I insisted to see where my parents were teaching when they were in their 20's. The school (see picture) was so small and the village so cute, hard to believe they were teachers there...

Besides a very nice old temple, there is not much to see in Savannakhet. So time to move to Pakse.

Pakse is a city in Southern Laos, it is where my dad was born and where my parents grew up till they had to run away from Laos, it was 35 years ago...

I stayed at my parent's friends place, it was great, i felt like at home. Well language was sometimes an issue (some of the family members could only speak laotian) but the good thing is that my laotian improved a lot in 1 week...

All I did in Pakse was resting because I was still a little bit sick, eating (of course) and biking with a little girl. I really enjoyed my time in Pakse.
I also visited all the places related to my parents: their homes, their schools, theirs friends, etc. I learned a lot about my family in 1 week of time...

But there were also lots of positive things, for example, I learned how to drive a motorbike.
Well I still need to practice but in theory I m able to drive a motorbike. Very useful in Asia.

Pakse is famous for it s waterfalls around the city. All the waterfalls were very different but all beautiful.
I also met the biggest Buddha of Laos, impressive.

I didn't really want to leave Pakse but after about 8 days, it was time to move on. Especially because the aunty was making me eat 4 to 5 times a day. It was delicious but for my sake, i had to leave Pakse...

So I went South, to Siphandon, the Four thousands islands. An island of farniente, nothing to do except to relax, enjoy the waterfalls and bike for hours, alone on the road...
I stayed there for 2 days. After that i have to admit that I started to get bored.

I stayed in a bungalow with hammocks. It was my cheapest accomodation since I travelled (2 euros) but for that price, I only had a room with a big bed and a mosquito net. There was a shared bathroom, shared with mosquitoes, coackraches, ants, etc. The worst bathroom ever...

And the food on the island was not that good, so excellent reason to leave!

After about a month it was really time to leave Laos. But this country remains one of my favorites.

Next stops: Phnom Penh and Rabbit Island, Cambodia