A green paradise... and a rat!

It was 7.20am and there was a knock at our door, “Bolaven Plateau Tour is on today we will leave at 8.15”. Just as well we’d
packed our day pack the night before and only had to worry about getting in a quick breakfast. I was spoiled with delicious
home made marmalade on French bread and natural lemon juice drink. I was so over the strawberry jam that was served up with
most breakfasts that was little more than red food colouring and a jelly like substance with what I assume was 70% sugar.
First on the agenda was a tea plantation. I got to learn a little about the tea making process and taste some Lao organic
green tea and meet the man who produces it himself. He was lovely and clearly very proud of his tea. He was only too happy
to have his photo taken! Tad Fane was 38 km from Paske and only a short stroll to see the 120 metre falls. Tad Fane drops
in two parallel streams that originates from Huay Bang Geng. An impressive sight in person, the pics don’t do justice. Next
we moved on to Tad Niang which originates from the same source as Tad Fane (Huay Bang Lieng) Tad Gniang was 30m high and
swimming was totally on the cards. It was a quick dip – the water was freezing but so refreshing and my headache disappeared
within seconds. Of course we did NZ proud, being the first 2 to brave the cold water and not soon after 2 other young men got
in for a quick dip. They saw my legs hadn't dropped off and i don't think felt they could've lived with themselves knowing a
girl had braved the water and they hadn't. I really liked Tad Gniang for its serenity, other falls we’d been to were a little
over crowded when tour buses arrived. It was nice to be one of 7 people to be taking in this sight. A coffee plantation in a
village was waiting patiently for us to arrive. We got out of the minivan on a dirt road and ‘Mon’our tour guide took us
through a maze of trees and shrubs. Shaun was cautious of snakes and I was busy snapping away and trying to become more
educated on the cultivation of coffee beans. Both Arabica and Robusta are grown in village plots throughout the region. I
now know what makes coffee a grade A or not, what berry beans look like, when they’re picked, how they’re dried and that Lao
coffee fetches among the highest prices in the world. We had a Lao lunch at the village and tasted some Robusta coffee.
Words that come to mind are gritty, robust, strong, and possibly what lacked in mine was the condensed milk the others were
pouring in their mugs. We finished with some local fruits – papaya, banana and I was introduced to a fruit called ‘custard
fruit’. I thought it tasted more like 'off' yoghurt but I gave it a good go, again everyone else seemed to be dribbling
condensed milk over it. This was some thing I thought best left for the lactose tolerant! Before we left the village we met
a young family and their first born. The baby was 2 days old. I found out some interesting village customs – thanks to Mon
our interpreter. He did well getting answers to my 101 questions! The mother lies on a bed with a smoldering fire underneath
once she goes in to labour. Shaun’s witty remark was, “Well that’s one way to get it our quick… smoke it out.” Then for the
next 12 days the fire continues. Mother still sits on top, lying next to her baby and drinks from a ladle, hot water with
herbs added to it. The placenta is buried in the ground and what I can only assume from the hand gestures our guide was
trying to explain from my questions was that when the next baby is born they place the two umbilical chords together (which
they’ve also kept) and place them in the ground together to help encourage the siblings to bond and play well together. Our
next stop was at the village Ban Kok Phung Tai. Up till now Shaun and I hadn’t been on a “Village tour”(I know this might
surprise many of you who’ve been to SE Asia, with tuk tuk drivers trying to pester you into doing one any chance they get),
but my morals didn’t support that – villages get nothing out of you invading their homes, that is unless you go on an ECO
tour where a proportion of money from the tour goes to the village. In this instance $2US per person was going into a fund
to set up a local school for this village so the children didn’t have to travel to the next village to be educated. We spent
over an hour there and loved every minute of it – money well spent! We got a glimpse into the traditions and daily lives of
an ethnic minority group in Laos. Possibly one of the more bizarre customs was how the families prepare coffins before their
death and place them under their family palm and thatch houses. I’m not sure if that’s just clever planning or plain
pessimistic… We spent time talking with the locals with the help of our guide. From a teaching point of view the kids were
starving for some stimuli and there were notable signs of just how bored the young kids were. I really just wanted to perch
myself there for a bit. But, with our Laos visa soon drawing to a close I knew that was what Takeo in Cambodia had in store
for me. The sun was beginning to set now as we reached our last site – Tad Lo village where we took in the last water fall
for the day, a pleasant sight for us but a vital resource for the locals. All that was left now was the 90 minute ride back
to Pakse, and a blazing red sunset that possessed us to pull over on route 13 to get a photo of it. An insightful day in to
the Bolaven Plateau – a green paradise.
On the 7th March we made our way to the Southern Bus Station in Pakse. We’d decided we had time to kill and thought a little
detour to Champasak was in order. We could go to Wat Phou and take in the river views. The guide books were accurate. It
was an unassuming little town with a roundabout that did what... I’m not too sure??? There was only the one road!!! Town
stretched 4km a long a dirt road and thankfully was still mostly unaffected by the hordes of tourists entering Laos. We
stayed at Vongpasit for 40,000 kip a room per night (NZ$8) with ensuite and a cold water shower. At first glance it was
fine, a little run down but a deck out over the Mekong made up for it. This was the spot to finish reading ‘Painting Mona
Lisa’ a beautifully written love story which allowed me to reminisce back to my art history lessons in 7th form of several
renaissance artists and paintings. A great fictitious read that reveals the truth behind Leonardo and his relationship with
Mona Lisa.. many details in the book are quite accurate, so who knows… maybe the author has the inside scoop!We caught a local bus to Wat Phou. It was way to hot to walk the 8km. Not to mention the amount of walking involved at the
historical site. Heaps of people (Thai and Lao pilgrims) came for the 3 day annual festival. There were rides for children,
heaps of food to be eaten and a steep climb up several steps to the temples. The temples and shrines date back to the 6th –
12th century. Wat Phou is a mountain monastery. It is clearly a most valued, respected site (well when there’s a festival
anyway). It is made up of a lush river valley, a 1500m tall mountain and what I thought was a very scenic landscape. It
wasn’t until about 2am the next morning that Champasak lost its charm. Being woken up by thuds and loud footsteps (NOT HUMAN
I might add) behind the walls. It was a RAT! I was sure this rat was going to thrash it's way through the walls (they were
only core flute!!!!) into our room. I cocooned myself in to my sleeper and had a most disturbed sleep. I think I slept with
one eye open the rest of the night. The next morning Shaun went in to the bathroom to find rat pooh and walls with big holes
in them that had NOT been there the day before and a bathroom door that had been severely nibbled at, luckily not gnawed
through to our room! This was our cue to leave – immediately! We caught a sangthiew (local bus) across the river ate some
local food from food hawkers who appear as you get down to the dock. This time we were actually quite grateful to be crammed
in a bus that should take 15 people but instead had 40 people, a motor bike, live chickens at your feet, big sacks of rice…
and just when you don’t think it could get any cosier… they let 2 more people on. This is NOT suitable transportation for
the claustrophobic, but for me, a hilarious, fun experience, with very friendly happy Lao people ( I think they get as much
amusement from 2 westerers being on the bus with them! Not common practise. Tourists usually go for the a/c mini van that is
quadruple the price and bought from a local travel agent). 5 hours later and a bus breakdown (no surprises there… those who
have traveled SE ASIA would know all about this, the welding began). Finally we were a 2 minute boat ride across to Si Phan
Don (4 Thousand Islands), where we got an EXCELLENT guesthouse in an old French colonial villa with beautiful teak furniture
and a great deck looking out over the river. Ok, we had to pay 70000 kip for the room per night (NZ$14) but so WORTH IT!
This was 4 nights of luxury.
Henriette & Drake Family – Great news about the school and the job, sounds perfect! So happy for you both, I knew you’d love
it there. Marlons class sounds excellent, pleased to hear both him and Dom are in the enrichment class. They will
thrive!!! Keep up the emails, its great to hear how things are going back in NZ.
Isaac – Glad to hear Pasa is off to a great start, new it would be, I bet you’ve already made heaps of new friends. Great
hearing from you!
Chris & Rachel – awesome meeting you both, had a blast in Si Phan Don with you both, Siem Reap is lovely. We are staying at
an excellent guest house called ‘Good, kind Guest House’. Look it up when you get here. US$8 per room with breakfast and
free internet.
Nicole – read Painting Mona Lisa
Taranga – How’s that love life of yours? Are you a team leader yet, if not, what’s taking you so long?
Arina – so sorry to hear you’ve been so sick  I hope J has been at your beck and call every minute of the day
Jared – I hope Arina hasn’t passed it on to you!
Fiona - trust me, there is definitely times I feel like I’m back packing, but every now and then, I’m in absolute luxury! 
p.s whats news on the job front?
Ginny – hows being a tutor teacher going? And, any idea of when you move in to your home?
Everyone else – lots of love to you all, thanks for the emails, and comments on the blog, we love hearing from you all, I've heaps of pics to upload and plan to in the next couple of days.
xoxxoxoxo