Pakse, Southern Laos.

After I returned from Champasak, I still had half a day on the bike, so I ventured over to the Dao Huang Markets, or morning markets, which are about two kilometers away from the city center, near the bridge across the Mekong.

Selling Meat

This is normal selling meat out in the open without any refrigeration. It happens all over South East Asia, Indian sub-continent, South America. Just about everywhere except for the developed world.

Wild vegetables

I am not sure what these are but they look like wild vegetables or bush tucker as we call it in Australia. Lao collect weeds along the roads and creeks to eat quite often.

Dried blood

This is dried blood from slaughtered animals. I have eaten some of this in noodle soup in Thailand, not knowing what it was. I wish I did not know. I guess it is a bit like what is in Yorkshire pudding or black pudding but I am not all that sure.

frogs for dinner

Ribbit!

Slithery catfish

A bucket full of slimy catfish for sale. For the carp, they aerate the water, so you are getting a really fresh fish when you buy one. It is still kicking.

Buying veggies

This is how you buy the veggies for the family.

Chillies

Very hot ones. They usually bake them and put them in a sauce called a jeow. It is very strong. You only need a little bit and it is hot enough.

Sleeping on the job

This is very common to see people having a sleep in the middle of the day. They get up really early before sunrise and go to bed early as well.

Vegetables for sale

Here are your standard salad vegetables. You get a nice fresh salad when you order a noodle soup. I always eat up my greens. They are yummy.

Poultry

I have a feeling this might be turkey because of the fatty bit around the neck. Not sure.

Bark

I thought this might have been cinammon at first but it was not. I think it might be used as some sort of medicine.

All that glitters

There are heaps of these shops selling all this rubbish. I think it is suss. The colour seems wrong to me. I saw this guy electroplating some jewellery earlier, so I reckon that is what it is. Just don’t tell the missus.

The aftermath

The big mess after everyone goes home. Some crew come and clean it all up and the process is repeated tomorrow, and the next day, ad infinitum.

Southern Laos – Mekong River.

I finally hired a motorbike. I got a Honda Wave scooter and it is a piece of crap. It is as heavy as a brick and rides like one too. But it was cheap – just over $5 a day. I set off from Pakse and crossed the bridge over the Mekong and turned left towards Champasak. The road was really good.

The Mekong River at Champasak

I found myself a cheap guest house and then went wandering up the road to see what I could find.

Sleeping Buddhist

I found myself a sleeping Buddhist near a sleeping buddha temple. It must be a meditation technique.

Ferry across the Mekong

I was fascinated by the ferries going across the Mekong River taking cars and motor-bikes.

Driving onto the ferry

Here are some tourists driving onto the ferry.

Lifting the ramp

The ramp is on a block and tackle and the captain has to lift the ramp off the bank by pulling the chain!

Spitting

Everyone spits a lot here. It is disgusting.

Pointillistic landscape

Some of the scenery around Champasak to the west. There is a huge mountain behind it. I tried to find a track towards it but ended up on a mud path. My bike was hopeless and could not handle any bumps or mud. I pulled the Clarity way down to zero for this photo to get that hazy effect.

Sand barges

I went back to the ferry landing in the afternoon. Here are some sand barges on the bank.

Loading Sand onto a truck

They would dump the sand off the barge and then a gang of men would shovel the sand onto a truck who would cart it away to wherever the construction site was.

Taking the pots for a drive

A ferry captain and his mate relaxing

Having a rest before setting off to work ferrying vehicles across the mighty Mekong.

Bogged truck

This pickup truck got bogged trying to get onto the ferry. They were shovelling and pushing and revving and spinning. Finally they got it on. whew! It was exhausting photographing them.

Tad Lo Waterfalls.

Today was an expedition on bike to the waterfalls surrounding the Tad Lo area. The first waterfall going upstream is Tad Hang. Then there is the Tad Lo waterfall.

Zou and his bike

I went with Zou, who travelled all the way from China on this Honda 125 motor-bike. We walked in to photograph the Tad Lo falls and most of mine turned out crap.

a green grasshopper

I did manage to photograph a nice green grasshopper who jumped right into my path.

Me at Tad Stoung Waterfall

My battery died again at this stage so I had to go back and get the other one. When will I ever learn? We eventually made it to the top of the Tad Stoung waterfall but you could not get a very good view.

villager smoking

After that we went down to the bottom of the waterfall at Ban Khiang Tad Stoung village. Zou gave out a few cigarettes which were gratefully received. They were smoking their own home-grown tobacco rolled in paper or leaves.

Kid with tyre and stick

I cannot believe how grumpy this kid was, even though he had a tyre and a stick. What more could you ask for?

tinker on a bike

This tinker came on a bike selling odds and ends, but the villager was mainly interested in the umbrellas.

kid by the river

We then trekked down to the river, heading up towards the bottom of the waterfall. These kids followed us, so we had to take their photos.

young boatman

This kid had a bamboo boat which he paddled across the creek with a stick!

waterman

This kid was like a fish in the creek, a true waterman.

Tad Stoung Waterfall

The Xe Set River starts in the north of the Bolaven Plateau and continues to the highland’s edge until it plummets ninety meters off a vertical cliff at Tad Soung Waterfall.

Tobacco drying

After that we went to a Katu village, Ban Lanong. The villages are built around a spirit house and previously Katu women tattoed their faces.

Working the rice fields

A young girl in the window

Modern conveniences

The most strange thing about these villages is that you see a lot of satellite dishes beside bamboo huts. It seems quite incongruous to me.

Salavan Province, South Laos.

I caught the eight o’clock bus from Pakse to Salavan at the VIP bus station. But I had to change busses at the southern bus station which is at the markets about eight kilometers from town.

Water Buffalo

I had to walk a couple kilometers into the village of Tad Lo. Luckily it was overcast and a bit cooler than usual, so it was not too bad. I found a guest house that cost $1.20 a night, had a shower and took off with the camera up the river.

Tropical Flower

There were lots of bright flowers about. Red seemed a common theme.

Red Flower

Another red flower

This one looks a bit like a waratah, the emblem for New South Wales.

a plant

Then I saw the waterfalls. There is a couple of them, you go past one and then get to the next one which is the actual Tad Lo waterfall.

Tad Lo Waterfall

There were heaps of water striders in a pool below the waterfalls

Water Strider

And lots of black dragonflies.

black dragonfly

Throwing the net

And the old throw net.

South Laos.

Savannakhet. What can you say about it? Not much really. It has lots of old french colonial buildings and it is hot. The bus station is two kilometers from town. They even have a french provincial style square in the middle of town. All you would need is the Marseilleise and you would swear you were in France.

The local church

And you could even go to church on Sunday.

The Friendship Bridge 2

This is the second friendship bridge over to Thailand. The other one is at Vientiane I think. It must be a lot easier to drive a truck over this than to catch a barge.

Friendship Bridge

A different angle. I hired a bike for ten thousand kip and rode for miles to see this bridge. The chain came off and the back tyre went flat. I got what I paid for I suppose. There is not much to do around here. But then again, I only had a cursory look around so my opinion is very superficial. Tomorrow I am off to Pakse, and then I go east into the hills and hopefully some bush and some birds to photograph.

The Rules

These are the rules of my guest house. I am pretty sure I am not going to make any videos. I do not have a video camera.

savannahket

Tha Khek, Laos

The hotel or guest house is in a strange area. Right in the middle of the industrial zone. Last night I went for a walk looking for something to eat and I could not believe where I had landed up. There were car repair shops, furniture makers, dental clinics, electronic and electrical repair shops.

On the Street where you live

This is out the front on the street outside. There is a car sales place in front and some sort of car upholstery repair shop behind me.

The goat

And of course there is a goat tied up having a feed in the middle of the industrial zone – only in Asia could this happen. Last night, there was an old bloke making throw nets at the gate.

Playing shuttlecock

And of course no street in Laos would be complete without a game of shuttlecock. They are always playing it in the street. I have never seen it played in a sports field. That would be boring.

Post-colonial, oui

Here are some old french colonial houses down near the river. Tres chic, n’est-ce pas? A lot of the signs on government buildings are in Lao and French. And the baguettes here are quite scrumptious. I had two for lunch with meat and salad.

The Mekong River

This is looking downstream, south towards Cambodia, where I am going eventually. I will be following it down to the sea just about. I have been seeing it since Tha Ton in Northern Thailand.

Net fishing on the Mekong

The ladies were using these nets to catch tiny little fish. They would have to catch heaps to get a decent feed.

Old house

This old house was very rustic and rural french. It looked like it should have been in the set for the Jacques Tati film, “Mon Oncle”.

Thailand

And there is Thailand right over the other side of the Mekong River. I think it is Nakhon Phanom. It felt strange to be looking over at another country.

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