Mon 20 Feb
Up at about 7 – grabbed breakfast nearby the hotel then hailed down a moto to take us to the Talat Dao Heung bus terminal (the morning market) where the minibus leaves from . On arrival were whisked into a sorng-t-au with a load of locals with all their fresh veggies and eggs from the market and waited about 20 mins till we were loaded to the hilt – only other falang was a young boy from Alberta who sat next to Al. The 1 ½ to 2 hour journey underway, at cost of Kip 20,000 each we jumbled along. Nice kid from Alberta – travelling alone, parents were originally from Cambodia so was coming to check out the area but no intention of visiting family as was estranged from them all! He chatted a bit to Al about his background – nice kid. He was dropped off about 15 mins from Champasak and we searched on Maps ME to see if we were approaching our destination so we could tell him to drop us off! For once Maps ME showed the wrong dot for the GH and luckily the driver pulled over and hauled us out, grabbing our bags from the roof! He dropped us right at the gate – quite rural! Place looked run down as garden over grown – ventured in – always apprehensive until we see what gem or disaster we have booked into using booking .com! Met by a friendly guy called Nom who showed us the choice in room – ours in the garden for US15 or upgrade for $5 to river view. Hargs – true to form thought the budget one would do just fine! Very basic room, quite small but only for a couple of nights. Restaurant looked over the river though and had a chilled vibe to it! As it worked out – wifi was almost non existent here and the worst mattress we stayed on so far – skinny and no give to it…yuk! Linens, if you can use that word for them, were very old and sad – old comforter! Oh well sometimes you just gotta suck it up! Not much choice in Champasak and we wanted to come here to see Wat Phu as is a Angkor-era monument preceding Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Did a quick hand wash of laundry as saw an outside clothesline (what a treat!). We then went for a walk along the road, which is the main road for the town and stretches out along the river bank. It used to be a seat of royalty (hard to imagine) and the main landmark in town was a very sad looking fountain circle . Grabbed a fruit smoothie from a slightly more modern hotel – the Inthira which is located in a restored old shophouse. Only activity around town seemed to be the flow of uniformed school kids going back and forward on bikes and scooters! Home for lunch and mid day break and then back again for late afternoon! Went to the visitors centre which had nothing exciting to show and our dear brethren wasn’t able to share anything as we couldn’t speak Lao! Found a spot on the river to while away the late afternoon and evening – a GH with a lovely riverside setting for sitting and watching the sun go down. Champasak with Love – some romantic movie buff obvs named it! Was a great place until got plagued by bugs – little gnats and bugs everywhere so had to hurry our meal and get back to the safety of the GH room at Anouxa – chatted to Nom when we got back. He wasn’t the owner but worked there – used to be a tuk tuk driver but guess the owner (who was always hovering in the background) wanted to get someone who spoke English! Sweet guy, told us he was Vice President of the Arts Society in town and that there would be a shadow puppet show and musical accompaniment tomorrow night, behind the tourist centre! A bi weekly show that we would luckily catch! Organised a scooter for the morning – easier to get to the Wat this way as about 15km// from town. LAK 100,000 for the day! Met Leslie from East Vancouver who was travelling alone but had been here beforehand and was visiting a friend who worked at the Wat on the restoration . Chatted for a bit to her as well as an English couple who were also flashpacking.. Called it a night and settled into our rock hard beds! Was a long night!

Tue 21st Feb
Was so hot so wanted to head out at a reasonable hour for the trip out to Wat Phu. Breakfast overlooking the river and then set out on the scooter. First no gas in tank so had to find a gas station – on the road by rice paddies and took some pics of rice being planted. The Wat is about 25 mins out of town by scooter and is at the junction of the Mekong Plain and Phu Phasak (Mountain). The Wat site is divided into 6 terraces on 3 levels , joined by long and sometimes steep promenades lined with statues of lions and nagas. A golf cart carried us from the ticket office and museum (LAK 40000 pp entry to complex) to the first terrace. We saw a few monks in their bright orange robes at the first level so scurried along there as they take the most amazing pics with the backdrop of black and dark grey stone! Turns out 2 were very effeminate and just loved posing for pics of each other so didn’t mind if we took a few! Water erosion is pressuring the site and therefore there is a large restoration project underway, funded by the Italians . Beautiful old quadrangular pavilions made of laterite and sandstone, 2 large barays built in front (rectangular ponds to store water) – everything is built to symmetry! Incredible to think it was all built in the 5th Century and has been an important place of worship since then, it is protected by Unesco now. We climbed up some steep narrow stone steps to the upper level where the sanctuary was, housing a Buddha and beautiful sandstone sculptures. Walking around the back of the sanctuary we saw the elephant stone – where the elephant is carved into a large rock – the carving slightly protruding from the rock and nearby the crocodile stone – where the crocodile carving is deeply recessed into the stone! Set against the limestone cliff there was a cave with “holy water” dripping through the rock and being channeled into a vessel running into a bowl – here you wash your head to bring you good luck – hoped that a splash all over my face and neck would suffice – what a relief as very hot! The views from the terrace were spectacular – looking over the structure, the valley and all the way to the Mekong River! We stooped off at the Exhibition hall on the way down and read up on a few facts and exhibitions there. Very hot and tired by now so found the lovely cool coffee shop and took some time out! When revived we retrieved the scooter from the “car guard” and headed back to town to explore a little on the bike. Stopped at another riverside GH for a late lunch – service was a little slow as saw the little girl from the café running out on her scooter to buy the 7-up and obvs the missing ingredients for lunch! Chilled out here and toured around the streets, up to the ferry crossing where took some pics of the unique home made ferry to transport vehicles for the short ride to the other side . Basically a bamboo platform built on top of 3 boats underneath – primitive bamboo drawbridge lowered to load/unload vehicles! School dismissed whilst we were on the drive back – so many kids on bikes and scooters – bedlam ensued – obvs the only traffic happening when kids out! Back to the GH where chatted more with Leslie from Vancouver. Grabbed dinner from another riverside GH – a bit disastrous as a were swamped by midges and gnats – millions of them – so the restaurant had to turn out all lights on waterfront as bugs just magnetised by lights! Fans were on but just blew bugs into food and drinks! A little annoying – but eventually scooted off to the Tourist Centre for our shadow puppet show and musical interlude. Sat with Leslie and chatted with a few others that we'd seen at the GH and around the place. 14 piece band was amazing – all playing local instruments, some even made out of coconuts and bamboo. Great experience listening to them for about 45 mins then we got a narration in very stilted English about the shadow puppet show we were about to see . Quite difficult to follow at the time and more so when we got half way through the show! The puppetry was very clever and amazed that colors showed up on the screen – was a story about twin brothers taking off in search of Nirvana and being enticed along the way by the god Shiva and the wicked things that happened when they deviated from their mission, turning into half man and half monkey, evil Giant coming back in disguises to trick them. Confusing but amusing in parts. Lasted about 2 hours in the end – saw Nom there and congratulated him on the success of his show. Must have been about 20 farangs there and 10 locals (locals got in for free and we paid about $8 pp). drove back through the dark main street on the scooter to the GH. There was a big celebration going on in town – loud music and fireworks with searchlights scouring the sky, think all the locals were heading that way. When we had been talking to Nom earlier he had told us that his first wife had died of “pneumonia” and was ill for years and had to go to Thailand for treatment, now his new wife and 2 ½ year old daughter were living in Vientiane! Times get tough for these guys!