During our last weekend in That Phanom the Loy Kratong festival took place, where the spirits of water are honoured. We were invited for dinner by Puna, from whom we rented a car, and afterwards we went to the festival together. Chaos. Every 5 meter there a new podium with its own huge set op speakers, and on the podium would be a drunk Thai singing karaoke. Total madness. In between there was a beauty contest electing the most beautiful Thai lady from within the area. And of course a lot of little candles were drifting on the water, with sticks of essence burning and small offerings enclosed. On our last evening we had dinner with Clive and Barry. The next day Puna drove us to Mukdahan, where we crossed the border via the Friendship Bridge no. 2 (a Chinese donation to improve transport to and from China) and arrived in Savannakhet.

Savannakhet was a medium large town along the Mekong River, so close to the border with Thailand. We switched guesthouse after the first night, hoping for a place where the personnel did not sleep in the lobby and restaurant..... From Savannakhet we made a tour by tuk-tuk to see some villages around it, the rice fields and to visit a salt factory. The salt factory was something special, huge concrete basins where the saline solution (70% salt, natural source) was left to dry, and also some 20 wood fired furnaces that were in production when we were there. Each furnace being operated by one family. Very picturesque. The high-light of Savannakhet was our visit to its two museums: the provincial museum and the dinosaur museum. The provincial museum told the story about the liberation from France and the USA-Vietnam war, which also impacted on Laos, followed by the liberation of the people of Laos, of course. In the dinosaur museum we were given the VIP treatment by the director, who took us to the working rooms and showed us the original bones that were dug up. He even allowed us to take photos with the very real bones, 120 million years old, can you imagine? On our last day we went by David from i-Lounge, a restaurant where they had a DVD-menu also. We watched some movies while eating there and David burnt a couple of DVD's for us, so we stocked up on Star Wars, James Bond and some other classics.

From Savannakhet we took a bus to Pakse, further south in Laos. We were wondering why those front seats in the bus were not taken yet, as we got in, but during the trip we found out: it was bloody hot behind that big window! But the view was great. Pakse was ok, but we did not feel like staying too long in yet another town. We stayed two nights, went swimming one afternoon in a real swimming pool of a large hotel (the first hotel since Lop Buri, Thailand) and decided it was time to head on, in search of some space and nature.

So we took a bus to Tad Lo, a small village inland of Laos. The one attraction of Tad Lo was a series of small waterfalls, but the village was a nice mix of tourism and local everyday life. While walking through the village one day, we ended up on a wedding party, and it didn't take long before a local climbed on stage and invited us to join the party, which we did of course. We stayed a week in very simple reed bungalows. There was no shower, but we could take a bath in the river every day, just like the locals did and Claudia was happy to try out her new sarong, bought especially for this purpose. We met Gabriella from Czech Republic, who was travelling with her two sons Ferdy and Micky. She had decided it was a better idea to buy a ticket and spend 6 months in warm Thailand, instead of having to buy all new winter clothes for her and her children. Good decision. We teamed up, the children playing with each other and with the local children, which was nice to see. Lasse and Sil were having fun, swimming in the river to their secret island, and one day they even got a ride on the back of a water buffalo, and crossed the river on the back of one!

From Tad Lo we rented mopeds one day, to visit a coffee plantation and go to the market in Salanvanh. Now, this was an experience once more! This market seemed to specialize in exotic animals: we saw owls and all kinds of birds of prey, living snakes, dog meat, badgers, squirrels, beautiful hornbills, small antelopes, you name it! We tried very hard not to look too disgusted, but we did not succeed every time. These people eat everything! One day in the village a dog was hit by a car, and sure enough, in the evening the dog bas being roosted on a fire. So now we knew why there were so many dogs around; they fulfill the same function as pigs and chickens. To eat every scrap that falls through the cracks of the table, only to be eaten yourself in the end.

After 7 nights we decided we had enough of the low hygienic standards. More so, as we had been having an unwanted guest in Claudia and Peter's bungalow: a huge spider. Peter tried to kill it, but was not successful; the damned spider was just too quick! Boy, were we happy with our mosquito nets and after the first encounter with our roommate, we really made sure the net was securely tied in between the bed and the mattress, you bet!

We moved on the the very most southern point of Laos: the 4000 Islands area. In the south of Laos the Mekong River broadens and many islands have formed, some larger that are inhabited. We stayed on Don Khon island, which was lined with guest houses along the waterfront. Very picturesque, very main stream tourism. It took us a whole day to travel from Tad Lo to Don Khong, via tuk-tuk, local bus, tuk-tuk truck and boat. But we were rewarded by a very nice shower, even with warm water! The first night we say a whole bunch of garbage, mostly plastic water bottles, floating by in the Mekong. Apparently this is how they got rid of the garbage around here. Made us think again about eco-tourism, about travelling to these regions altogether, as these were really ‘our' bottles off course, which were floating in the Mekong. There must be some way, some local solution that can be put to work, to give all this plastic a second use, or in any case stop it from littering the rivers and the oceans!

We switched guest houses after the first night on Don Khon, moving a bit more up-class, bit more luxury and a bit more to where the action was. That appeared a good decision, as Sil and Peter fell ill for some days with a stomach virus, and the extra luxury was greatly appreciated while Sil and Peter were sharing toilet time. It was very nice to be back in nature again, just like in Tad Lo. Lasse and Sil went swimming every day, taking care not to be swept away by the strong current. We hired bikes almost every day, had several nice restaurants to choose from (all with the same menu, however) and reasonably fast Internet available. There was a festival to celebrate the good harvest, with dragon boat races on the Mekong, which was a beautiful sight. In the village there was a fair, with balloon dart, gambling, eating, and, of course, loud music, all night long. But the high-light was the merry-go-round, which was not driven by electricity, but by man-power. I bet our parents even haven't seen one of those!

So our days in Laos are counted, heading for a new country: Cambodia. We enjoyed Laos, with its laid-back atmosphere, its many temples, monks and novices, where the locals are still in charge of their own economy (how different from Africa!), although Sil and Lasse sometimes endured hard times, with everybody touching and hugging them. In Laos things are generally well organized for tourists, without the pushy attitude of Thailand. Surely a country to come back in, say, 10 years time.