Part 21 : 4000 Islands

After deciding to leave I found that I was increasingly difficult to get tickets due to Lao new year :( I had finished work for the day and all the VIP buses were booked out to Pakse. I called Souly and she found me a palce that was going there but I couldnt book over the phone and had to drive out there, it being 10km outside the city. I managed to have a lengthy discussion with the manager of the benacams apartment and then convinced one of their workers who spoke english to drive me out there on my motorbike.

ok, so tickets booked. spent the entire next day wrapping up the final clips for SEDA and sorting out my backpack. FYI it sucks trying to repack your bag after youve had it open for 3 weeks. Then once all my stuff was done and packed I heading out to the bus stop leaving for good my fancy Vientiane apartment.

The bus ride to Pakse was quite simple. It was a VIP sleeper bus and I had to share the double bed with this old Lao guy. He was very kind and helpful when it actually came to stopping and getting off at the right stop. The bed was ok and I literally after editing for 4 days was so tired I fell asleep and woke up about 45 mins before I had to get out. The trip took 10 hours to Pakse and once I was there I booked straight away to Don Det. that took 2.5 hours and then a small river crossing to get to Don Det.

I really wasnt sure when I was travelling on the small river boat how in hell I was going to meet the girls. This was quickly solve when as the boat approached my smile lit up and I could see them waiting for me on the beach. Probably one of the most joyous occasions on my trip so far. So relieved to be reunited with friends, to be away from Vientiane and to be ready to chill out and party. The girls had already been there for a day and had found bungalows on the sunset side. We check and there was a spare and so we ended up with 3 bungalows in a row right along where the river goes by. Quite nice.

There I also me Cally who I had met previously in Nha Trang with sarah but sarah had headed home already and Alex. To my surprise richard was Richard was still with Nina but they had split apart and then reunited earlier in Siam Riep. I only had 2 nights here and so I was quite happy to chill out and hang out with the girls and enjoy the quiteness of the islands.

FYI
go bycling to the waterfalls
bring a Ipod and control the music at reggae bar
tubing and drinking in the water. very nice here nothing like vang vieng
chill out in hammocks on bungalos
bring money as there is no atm on the islands. you have to travel to Pakse just to get money out.