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| Wat Phu |
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| Elephant trekking |
We are back in Vientiane packing our clothes and presents ready for our departure for the airport and our flight to the UK. It is quite surreal realising Christmas is less than 2 weeks away, but we have not heard a Christmas Carol, there are no Christmas decorations, the shops are trading normally and the temperature is 30 degrees. The south of Laos is fascinating as it shares more of its history with Cambodia and the south east near the Vietnam border is very poor. Highlights of the last week have included a visit to Wat Pho - an Ankor era temple which was founded prior to Ankor Wat in the sixth century. Much smaller than its famous southern neighbour it occupies a beautiful position climbing up a hillside to a sacred spring which emanates from a sacred mountain and overlooks the Mighty Mekong River. Very old Frangipani trees with roots wrapped round and between the stones of the buildings were in full flower.
A short drive across the river took us to the Kingfisher Resort, styled like an African game lodge along the side of some wetland. We took a basic hut with a view across the wetland and were rewarded with one of the local elephants wading through the swamp, pulling vegetation then washing it before eating. We were privileged as the owner had not seen any since the end of the wet season. In the village we met a group returning from an elephant trek to a local stupa and watched as they dismounted and the mahouts took the elephants through the village to their quarters.
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| River Crossing on way to Attapeu |
We cut east towards Attapeu along a road only passable in the dry season, and we could see why. There are no bridges or ferries so rivers have to be forded. We just made it across a couple where the water reached the floor of the van, but no higher. Attapeu (the major town in the area) has only had a surfaced road for 15 years and was the poorest province in Laos. The market reflected this with a lot of bush meat on sale including rats, squirrels, small deer, mice, frogs and various caterpillars.
Just outside Attapeu we bumped into a Swiss couple who crossed into China at the same time as we did and who we had briefly met before. It was good to exchange experiences before going our separate and opposite ways.
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| Ho Chi Minh Trail |
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| SAM Missile |
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| Tank Turret |
North from Attapeu we followed around 60kms of the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail which supplied the communist Vietnamese army in the south during the Vietnam War. Relics of the war are still evident including a Russian made SAM missile and the remains of a tank. The area is peppered with Unexploded ordnance from the war which still inhibits the clearing and development of more farmland. Along this road we came across some of the poorest villages we had seen in Laos. To get back to civilisation we had to use a basic ferry to cross a major river (they are now building a bridge), quite an experience.
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| Village Children |
Heading back to Vientiane to leave the van here for Christmas we camped by a waterfall in another protected area, but saw no wildlife, just many hundreds of beautiful butterflies.
We return from the UK in the middle of January so there will be no more news of our travels until towards he end of January 2017. Have a great Christmas.
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| Ferry back to Civilisation |
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| Waterfall by campsite |
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| Mekong sunset |
A short drive across the river took us to the Kingfisher Resort, styled like an African game lodge along the side of some wetland. We took a basic hut with a view across the wetland and were rewarded with one of the local elephants wading through the swamp, pulling vegetation then washing it before eating. We were privileged as the owner had not seen any since the end of the wet season. In the village we met a group returning from an elephant trek to a local stupa and watched as they dismounted and the mahouts took the elephants through the village to their quarters.
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