Gentle ride. Great views.

Sunset over the Mekong. It does it every evening.

Gentle rapids rather than massive falls, but in the monsoon….

Great views.

The bridge survived Paul’s weight.

And another, slightly less scary.

No, I’m not cycling over that.

Waterfall, and fishing contraption. Not sure how, or if, they work.

Ex grand French School. A bit of work needed.

Another great sunset.

A real treat to stay 2 nights in one spot, with a lovely view over the river towards the sunsets and even a hammock.  Gentle cycles around Don Khon discovering the remains of the French attempts to transport gun boats early 1900’s up the Mekong over the Falls.  They failed, and had to dismantle their boats and build a railway.  A lot of effort made to try and connect to China to the north.  Their footprint is still here with remnants of language and a very useful bridge connecting to the party island Don Det.

Dusty red sand tracks connect the small villages on the island and a single track path led us through remains of the jungle to the spectacular Tad Khone Pa Soi waterfall.  Lingering lunches on the river, deep fried spring rolls and beer.  All very satisfying.

Bumped into the Belgian couple we’d met in Pakse, Harry and Wally.  They had also circumvented Don Det as being a little “too spacey” and were settling for a couple of nights on Don Khon.  Joined them for supper and heard all about their home in Andalucia.  A rather lovely mountain spot.  May need to pay them a visit, both are very keen mountain bikers, and good company.

Now the start of our hard 5 days to Siem Reap.

Hot and flat. 130Km.

Sunrise! They are trees, not buildings.

Our ferry awaits. A bit like Southampton.

Big ovens for making charcoal.

Unloading precious cargo.

New rice, soon to be sticky.

Boy much braver than us.

Out the door by 6:15 am.  Crikey, never managed that yet, but we are learning that to do the kms we need to beat the sun.  Beautiful sunrise while we loaded the bikes onto the one-man ferry to take us across the Mekong to pick up the main road south.  Our ferry man had only one  arm, very possibly one of the UXO victims.  The river is quite magical in the early morning light.  Tossed away the hotel’s “takeaway breakfast” of curry sauce with a bread roll and made up some banana sandwiches instead.  We can’t get enough of the short, fat little yellow things.

Pedalled away for 7 hours, with short breaks to stretch our legs and refuel.  The day got hotter and hotter from a very pleasant 18 degrees up to a too warm 38 degrees. Tasted the best pork scratchings ever.  Made a water stop at a roadside shack also selling its freshly chopped up pig.  Alongside was a huge pan of still warm pork scratchings.  Paul had to persuade Linda that lots of fat isn’t the best thing for energy for cycling.  Linda thinks Paul’s wrong.

Almost thwarted by not finding any ferryman to take us across the Mekong to Don Khong island, when miraculously he appeared.  The financial negotiations kept changing but finally paid 40 kip (about £4) for 2 people and 2 bikes on his long tail boat. Worth it, as the alternative is a 15km detour and a new bridge. After 110km we thought another 15km was just a tad too much.

It’s a funny place.  Don Khong is the largest of the 4,000 islands.  We tried cycling across the island to catch the setting sun on the west side.  After 8km of rough, pot-holed roads with no nice bar at the end, we didn’t hang around but skirted round the south of the island, through the villages.  Our first proper sight of some emerald green and lush paddy fields.

The 4,000 islands are famous for being ‘relaxed’, with not much to do other than have swing time in a hammock. Tomorrow we are off to ‘party island’, Don Det. We will probably hate it. And move before sunset.

To Champasak.

Mekong, still.

False door.

Built to last. About 1,200 years, so far.

The Wat Site. Photos do not do it justice.

Wat Phu, dragon head.

Who stole the roof?

3 headed elephant detail. Hindu and Buddhism together.

Out of Pakse and over the 2km bridge crossing the Mekong. It’s a pretty big river.  Quiet road passing through farming villages down to   Had a cheeky banana smoothie and coffee at the rather smart River Resort Hotel with views across the river over one of the 4,000 islands.  Then downtown to find a more budget spot.  We have discovered that booking via Agoda is cheaper than trying to negotiate at the door. The slightly bonkers Laos folk will not even match the Agoda price. Champasak is a rather special little place with some faded but beautiful French colonial buildings now protected by World Heritage, including our hotel.  Down the road further is Wat Phu. It is older than Angkor Wat, built by the same chap – well he had help- but smaller.  There is an ancient route linking the two.  Once it was an enormous religious site stretching over 10 acres with the backdrop of one of the highest mountains. Those Khmer knew how to build interesting Wats. Just as well that they can also function as a Buddhist temple, so the invaders didn’t do what most invaders do i.e. raise the old religion to the ground. There is no record about rape / pillage.

Have discovered cashew nuts “Laos” style, stir fried with lemongrass and lime leaves, add lots of salt and a Laobeer, delicious.

Supper a big treat with Sian and Lawrence at the River Resort – thank you chums.  We found our way back home in the dark on our bikes, rather a lovely cycle in the night air, no traffic, listening to all the frogs and cicadas.  Needed an early night as planning a crack of dawn start tomorrow.