Aladdin's adventure with Mekong Cruises - Vat Phou Cruise

Day 3: Vat Phou / Champassak / Pakse

While enjoying breakfast on board, the Vat Phou continues its cruise to Champassak. The highlight this morning is the Vat Phou ruins - the majestic pre-Angkorian 10th century temple complex and boat’s namesake.

You have time to visit the museum at the ruins site, walk up to the highest temple and take as many photos as you would like. We return you to the boat for your final lunch on board. A small boat will then take you back to Pakse, arriving around 4.00pm.

Aladdin's adventure with The Vat Phou Mekong cruise on Mekong River

Thursday 8 ^th of January 2015 and they knocked on my door quarter past 6. But I didn't get out of bed until 7. I had a shower and I went on deck for my breakfast. It was a gorgeous morning and Itook my seat on the “special” seat. There were already a pot of tea on the table.

We had some time to kill before we reached Champasak and I enjoyed the morning on the aft deck. We expected to Champasak around 9 o'clock and they will go to the Vat Phou temple with bus and as I had been there I will stay on board.

Our Guide suggested that I could walk around the town while they were at the temple.
- A TOWN!!!
- Yes, and there is the Kings house to see
- A TOWN!!
I could not believe my ears, I was really looking forward to come ashore to have a look at a town.Walking around enjoying a town, and maybe, and I say maybe, I can buy an ice cream.

Yes, I was really looking forward to a walk around town. But we still had an hour to go before we could go ashore. Last day on board and I'm looking forward to coming back home to Bangkok again. Laos is great, well, except for all the garbage, but it will benice to get back to a real city again.

I was off for yet another shower 30 minutes before arrival and when I was ready we had already arrived and all the other passengers were gone. I walked up the concrete stairs from the river to the “city level”

I reached the top and I walked pass a restaurant and I reached a road. The town, what a joke, it was exactly the same as the villages we had visited. One “main” road passing through houses, no intersection. But it was a tar road. The houses were a wee bit bigger and moreof the houses were made of concrete. And there were more of them so the road through the “town” were longer than in the village.

I turned right when I stepped up on the tar road and I walked for 30 minutes before I turned around. There were exactly nothing to see.

I stopped to buy 2 cans of diet drinks on the way back and I was soon back in my cabin. They had finished taking bunker when I came back, but there was a smell of gas oil.

The tar road through the “town”

There was a post office in “town”

Our boat

Our boat

I spent about 2 hours in my cabin surfing the net reading the news. At 12 o'clock I went to the aft deck to see if there was any lunch. Aft deck was full of new passengers, well, 9 of them.

They will join the boat here going back South and we will board a small boat for a 2 and a halfhour boat trip up the Mekong River back to Pakse.

But first we had our lunch and it was Lao food again. Different kind of spring rolls and it was delicious. I had a pot of tea with my food. Our new friends from Switzerland was coming to our table.
- Time to leave
- Finally, I said.

But it was only them leaving, they were staying close to Champasak and there were a special boat coming to pick them up. We waved good bye from the aft deck when they left with their boat that looked like, well, it was a motorcycle ferry. Of course, instead of motorcycles they had some chairs on “deck”

Our new friends from Switzerland are leaving us

Our new friends from Switzerland are leaving us

Our new friends from Switzerland are leaving us

The climbed on board the motorcycle ferry and they left us behind. We spent another 5 or 10 minutes before we went down to the boat that was going to bring us to Pakse. Our luggage wasalready on board the boat.

My shoes were also on the boat and I stepped on board. I donned my shoes and I looked down the boat. We have to sit on plastic chairs. I was disappointed, I have paid 1000 US Dollars for a three day cruise. The boat and the time we have spent on board have been excellent.

The small long tail on the first day was terrible, 3 hours in that boat was a killer. And we were 50 to 70 years old something and we had to sit on some shitty boards.

OK for teenagers, maybe. But for senior citizens paying 1000 US Dollars, well, then it was substandard. And now, plastic chairs and sunshine for the trip to Pakse. This is disrespect for the customers. Maybe, and I say maybe, I could have done this back when I was 15, but now? I was not happy, and the other passengers didn't look too happy either

Waving good bye

Waving good bye

Leaving the boat behind

Trucks on the Mekong River

Trucks on the Mekong River

They use empty bottles as floats for the fishing nets

If you pay 1000 US Dollars you expect better seating arrangements

It is disrespect to transport old people like this!

This is the reason that the farmers don't eat their own vegetables

Pulling in a fishing net

Pulling in a fishing net

I was so happy to see my hotel showing up

The Golden Buddha is showing up

Pakse

Finally, reaching the end destination

Finally, we're off the boat

It was not 2 hours in the boat, we spent TWO AND A HALF HOUR on a foocking plastic chair. And with the sun shining all the time with no place to hide. Well, so it was very nice to get off theboat. But bad was going to worse. Now theywanted us to go in to a TUK TUK.

Three senior citizens in the back of a TUK TUK. What a disgrace this was. Sitting in the back of this TUK TUK and the only safety feature in the TUK TUK was some yellow and orange coloured “good luck” strings in the rear view mirror.

I got out of the TUK TUK at the hotel, and it was not an easy operation to get out of the vehicle. I checked in to theChampasak Gran Hotel. I got the same room as I had last time. I stopped at the restaurant and I asked for a pot of tea with cold milk for my room.

I meet a girl on the 7th floor and she delivered laundry to a room and I asked her to come with me. I handed her a bag with my laundry and she promised that it should be ready tomorrow.

It was soon knocking on my door and it was the tea.
- What the

He brought a small pot and this was not what I have had in mind. I asked for a pot, same size as I used to get atthe breakfast. He left and he was soon back with a real size pot with tea.

I enjoyed my tea and when I had finished my pot I went down to the reception to see if they could recommend any “nice” restaurant in town. I would prefer a 5 star restaurant.

There were nothing 5 stars in Pakse, but they had anice restaurant on the roof top at Pakse Hotel. They arranged a car for me and I was soon on my way to Pakse Hotel and the roof top restaurant.

They have a restaurant on the roof-top and it was called Le Panorama. I got the menu and there were a few items I could easy imagine to taste good. I ordered some filled butterflies as a starter.

Beef filet as a main course and a pot of tea. The food was good but the bread was a disgrace, microwaved and it was not any pleasant to eat.

I asked if they had whipped cream and they went to investigate. They had whipped cream and Iasked for chocolate mouse and a pancake (crepe) with chocolate. They brought the chocolate mousse with the cream
- You have to whip the cream!

I sent out the cream and what a shame. It was a very very good chocolate mouse and imagine if I could have had whipped cream to the chocolate mousse. And why on earth do they serve the chocolate mousse in shot glasses? The chocolate mousse disappeared like an aspirin. Well, took me around 13 seconds to finish the mouse and they brought the crepe.

My driver was not outside the Pakse Hotel when I came down and I went to look for some diet drinks, I ran in to my three new friends from Australia that I had met on the Vat Phou Cruise. We had a chat and I bought three cans of diet drinks at the restaurant where they were eating. My driver passed us and he stopped to pick me up and I was soon back in my room at Champasak Grand Hotel. Last night in Laos. Will be nice to get back to Bangkok now.

Tweet

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

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