Sixty One Degrees
An occassional journal of an Asia-overland adventure
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Ban Kong Lo - Don Det, Laos
I've quite a journey ahead of me. I'd arranged with a few friends to meet up tomorrow in Don Det, at the very southern tip of Laos. There's not much that I planned to see on the way so I don't mind a few long bus trips.
The journey starts with a sawngthaew at 7am from Kong Lo to Ban Na Hin. It's the only one of the day. Two bumpy hours later I switch to another sawngthaew to the highway junction. I take the lead from a fellow traveller and ride outside on the back. Much more comfortable and a great view.
From the junction it's just a short wait to flag down a bus heading to Savannahket. I'd expected to have to stay overnight here but turns out there's a late bus leaving at 4pm for Pakse, the most southerly major town. The bus finally leaves at 5pm but we're only on the road for an hour-and-a-half before we stop outside a small diner in a non-descript town. The usual meal-stop I assume. Not being hungry I stay on the bus as the other passengers file off. I'm kept company by three young women whose english mostly consists of "I love you. Do you love me?". To which I of course reply, "Yes, I love you".
After a couple of hours it becomes apparent that we aren't going anywhere. Soon after though another bus pulls up behind us and our, half-full, bus starts to file on board. After seeing my bag safely stowed somewhere other than in the engine compartment I'm about the last to get on. I discover that the new bus was full when it arrived and, what's more, there's a Honda 125 motorbike in the aisle. As there's nowhere else to sit the three girls in the front seat suggest that I sit on the bike, which is facing backwards. I do and find myself facing a jammed busload of Laotians staring back at me. I smile and give them a wave and they all smile back. A little while later I pull out my camera and hold it up to great amusement before taking a photo.
The bike is surprisingly comfortable and I'm happily bouncing down the highway until we stop again at about 10pm. This time in the middle of nowhere. The driver and his attendant hangers-on (there's always two or three) all get out and walk around to the drivers-side front wheel. In the moonless light they peer intently at the large wheel nut by the light of a cigarette lighter. As someone goes to rummage through the tool-kit I return to the cabin to fetch my torch.
By the light of my torch they now discover that they have no suitable spanner so someone goes to work on the wheel nut with a small chisel and a chunk of metal, knocking the chisel against the flat of the nut. Needless to say this just about destroys the nut but they do get it off. They then start to stare intently at the wheel bearings. If they don't have a wheel spanner in the tool kit then I'm pretty sure they don't have a spare set of bearings. A few more puzzled examinations and some more bashing of various bits of the wheel and they then all congregate on the other side of the road beside the bus. A couple of them collect some rubbish and start a fire. I think we are staying here for the night.
I head off into the nearby field to search for one of the small sheds that are so common. Common everywhere but here it turns out. As I head back to the bus another bus rolls down the road and stops. This is quite incredible as buses hardly ever travel at night in Laos. With a couple of other passengers I quickly jump on. Most stay behind as this bus is from a different company and so another fare must be paid.
On the new bus we finally arrive in Pakse at about 1am. A Laotian guy who speaks french explains that we can just sleep on the bus. Sounds good to me. The next morning we head across to the other bus terminal and I grab a sawngthaew south towards the ruins of Wat Phu Champasak, a pre-Angkor temple complex.
The sawngthaew drops me at the side of a river and I take a small ferry across then pick up a tuk-tuk for the 8km trip to the ruins. The driver waits for me whilst I wander around. It's a pretty good fare for him and worth his time. He then takes me back to the river, another ferry across and a jumbo back to the main road.
After a half-hour wait a bus heading south to Ban Nakasang, the jumping off point for Don Det, turns up. I'm sitting next to a guy who's returning from Pakse with his wife and newborn child. It's an all day trip to his home. I hope the child isn't sick in the future.
As we zip along the good highway I notice that the driver has a tendency to veer to the left, across the centre line. Not too bad until we encounter a truck coming in the other direction with the same predeliction. At the last second, as I brace myself for impact, both swerve back to their own side, but not quick enough to prevent their load from hitting our wing mirror. With a loud crash the mirror is destroyed. Our driver slows down a little and sticks his head out the window to look back and see if there's any more major damage. Apparently satisfied he speeds back up again and we continue on our way.
We finally reach Ban Nakasang late in the afternoon and I walk down to the river to take a boat across to Don Det. The Mekong River at this point spreads out over a wide area and is dotted with hundreds of islands (the region's name of Four Thousand Islands is, I think, a bit of creative hyperbole). Don Det is one of the more low key ones, with no cars and no electricity.
With a couple of other guys from the bus I look around for a suitable bungalow. Most are the same: bamboo hut, hammock on the balcony, overlooking the river. We find one with space and check in, at the princely sum of 10000 kip a night, about US$1. I settle in to my hammock and watch the sun set over the Mekong. After about 36 hours of travel on 13 vehicles it's nice to relax.