Southern Laos: An Education on Bad Transportation and Really Old Fossils

Yes we have been bad again! But this time, it wasn't our fault! Anyway lets just get right down to it -

We arrived in Vientiane, Laos (capital city) where we said goodbye to Arie and Alex and where Steph, Jacco, Kathy and I had one last night together. So, in celebration, we went bowling. I wish I could upload the pictures now as they are pretty humourous but Cambodia (where we are now) really will not allow for that at all. The next day Jacco left us and Kathy, Steph and I decided to work our way down the South of Laos. Bad idea. Although we have a huge, massive amount of love for Laos, Southern Laos did not leave us all that happy. First of all, there was the transportation. Looooong hours on non air conditioned buses where not only is every seat taken but there are also stools in the middle of the aisles where another person sits. Oh yes and there are also people standing at the front of the bus. This inevitabley leads to flat tires, tons of body heat, and general misery. Also, we discovered that Southern Laos is the hottest place in the entire world. So inside the bus is probably around 40degrees C and if that bus stops for a single second (like say for a flat) allowing for no more wind thru the windows, you kind of are halfway between wanting to die and feeling like you might die pretty soon. But DONT WORRY! After one particularily peculiar 20hour journey (overnight so much less hot) that included on our bus a rooster, a man in the middle of the aisle smoking 4 cigerettes an hour and a leaky ceiling, we arrived in Si Phan Don - the 4000 Islands - at the very most Southern tip of Laos.

While journerying down through the South we stopped in Th Khaek (quite boring) and Savannakhet. There we went to the Dinosaur Museum which turned out to be just one room with bones in it. But it was our lucky day because the owner came in to talk to us and he was very cool, we learnt lots about dinosaurs and even got to hold 110million year old bones! Including a T-Rex tooth! You should have seen us, we were like elementry school children, so giddy about it all! Its a good thing we enjoyed it because besides trekking, its really the only thing to do in Savannakhet! Speaking of, Kathy and I (steph had a sore throat so stayed home) went on a one day trek where we met quite possibly the coolest locals and got to eat things in the forest like leaves that tasted like lemons or this really sticky fruit that monkeys really like. Kathy and I also spent a night at a local disco where we were the only white people for miles which lead to everybody staring at us the entire time we were there. BUt they played really good music and we hadn't had a night out in so long so we got over the staring and had a fabulous time!

After finally reaching the 4000 Islands, the three of us rented bikes and rode to a waterfall that is the most volume of water waterfall in all of Asia. It was a beautiful bike ride and very fun altho a little painful as the roads were very rocky and unpaved! The next day we left Kathy and crossed the boarder into Cambodia and that is where we are now! First we made a stop in Kratie where we got to see rare fresh water Dolphins. They were very weird looking but it was a very relaxing activity - floating in the Mekong while the sun set, observing dolphins jumping around you - after so many days of traveling. Especially because crossing the boarder was no piece of cake either (non air conditioned extended mini van where we sat in the sun in the back of the van for a few hours, soooo hot).

Now we are in Siem Reap, Cambodia. So far we love Cambodia the most out of all the places we have been which is wonderful because we were always sort of expecting Cambodia to be a challenege for us (based on others accounts) but its been nothing but pleasant and enjoyable. We spent two entire days visiting Angkor. We thought we'd just be seeing Angkor Wat but turns out Angkor is like an ancient city of temples and it streteches at least 30km! You have to hire a tuk tuk driver for the day who takes you all around and only hired cars and motorbikes are allowed to drive in the area. But we really need pictures to coincide with our Angkor stories so maybe in Phnom Penn we will have better internet access and thus a proper post about Angkor Wat and the temples of Angkor. They are just too beautiful, intricate, ancient and crazy too describe without pictures!

Off to Phonm Penn tomorrow, it will be hard to leave Siem Reap, we really do love it here.

Also, what is with the lack of comments? Andy, I think Marnie enjoys your comments more than the actual blog so get on it. And sam i know u are our most faithful reader, show us some love. Miss you guys...but wow, we are going to be home soon.....