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Other entries in Thakhek

Sleepyville

Once again, we were the last two standing, all our friends had moved on to Hanoi, and now it was our turn to leave Vientiane, but to head South instead of North, deeper into Laos.

We had booked another bus from Vientiane to Tha Khaek, a small town in central Laos, and a pit stop for us before heading onto to Savannakhet.  The trip from the Mali Namphu to the bus station went without a hitch.  We climbed aboard our bus, made ourselves comfortable and waited for our journey to begin.  And waited, and waited and waited.  The bus had air con, but as luck would have it, the engine wasn't on, and we sat in a crowded bus, waiting, as the sun grew ever higher and the temperature on board began to rise.  It was so hot, even the locals were soaked in sweat.  There didn't seem any logical reason for the holdup, all the baggage and produce were loaded on and all the passengers ready to go, but the driver still sat in the shade, smoking one cigarette after another, completely ignorant to our growing impatience.

Finally, the driver climbed aboard and started the engine, the air con burst into blissful life and we were bathed in the cool waves of wonderful air.  The bus trundled out of the station and onto the main road.  At last our 6 hour journey had begun.....or not as it turned out.  I swear, the bus drove no more than 100 yards out of the station and then pulled up. The driver disembarked, lit another fag and promptly sank down into the grassy bank at the side of the road, he obviously wasn't moving for a while yet.  The air con was off again, so everyone on board cranked open their windows and leaned out as best they could, trying to catch the slightest breeze.  We would have all happily got off and stretched our legs, if it hadn't been for the Laos penchant for overloading buses, hence the ten people sitting on stools down the centre of the aisle blocking us in.  Time passed by, sticking unpleasantly to our plastic coated seats, we waited and waited, Ric and I occupied ourselves with trying to attract the attention of the driver, and throw him the dirtiest looks ever, when we were interrupted by a Laos passenger on the back seat.  Obviously this women had finally had enough, physically throwing herself over three people to get to the window, she leaned out and screamed in Laos at the driver.  Now I don't speak Laos, but even so, what she said shocked me into paying attention, as it did the driver.  He jumped up and scratching his arse looked sheepishly around, then promptly moved out of earshot!!

Finally two more passengers turned up and took their place on stools in front of the bus door and we headed off.  I don't know who they were or which royal family they belonged to, but obviously they were important enough for the whole bus to wait for them.  I'd loved to be able to say that after this we sped along to Tha Khaek without a hitch, but unfortunately, the stops and starts became something of a trend with this driver, and not an hour would go by without him stopping for a snack, cigarette or just to wander the side of the road, aimlessly digging at the dirt with his heels.  It was with great joy that we eventually drove into Tha Khaek, after what felt like a lifetime on that bus.  I am sure Ric and I aged at an unnecessary speed during that trip and I dread to think what time those poor passengers finally did roll into Savannakhet, perhaps they are still on that bus, somewhere down a bumpy dirt track, stewing in their own sweat, while the driver smokes his fag and drags his hairy knuckles in the dust!

Thank goodness we had decided to break the trip up and stay at Tha Khaek, we couldn't have stayed on that bus another second.  Tha Khaek bus station is 2km out of town and surrounded by nothing but dust, which alarmed the only other falang passenger on board our 'Hell Bus'.  At Tha Khaek, surprise, surprise the driver climbed off with us, found a wooden bench and lit up.  By now the bus had emptied out a little, allowing the Savannakhet-bound passengers to squeeze out one by one and stretch their cramped legs.  Happy to be free at last, Ric and I collected our bags and sat happily in the back of our newly procured tuk-tuk.  "You sure you're in the right place?" our fellow falang drawled, sidling up to our vehicle and looking around him in disbelief.  'But there's nothing here!' he cried, in response to our happy nods.  "Exactly' we replied, we didn't care where we ended up, we were so pleased to be off that bus!

The Tha Khaek Travel Lodge where we had decided to stay is nestled amongst several tall, leafy trees, on a small piece of land, a good 20 minutes walk from the centre of town.  Our room was based in a concrete annexe, off shooting from the main, restored teak house.  It had all the basic amenities, but the highlight was the beautiful garden surrounding the house and our room. The downside, however being that the location of our room did mean that we were invaded by the largest cockroaches that we have ever seen, which certainly kept us on our toes!  The owners have ingeniously constructed a lovely peaceful patio and bar area which opens out into an abundance of lush green leaves and delicate flowers.  Sitting down in the late afternoon, watching the dappled sunlight flit through the trees and listening to nothing but the sounds of the birds was just the ticket for a pair of frazzled backpackers like us.  This was a place for chilling out and daydreaming  In fact the whole of Tha Khaek seemed to be enveloped in the hot, dreamlike haze that radiates off of baked tarmac roads on very hot days.

Braving the oven-like heat, we dumped our things and began the walk into town to explore.  Strolling along the red, dusty road was like trekking the Sahara desert, the feeble breeze that did exist consisted of nothing but a warm hairdryer heat, blowing the clay dust into our eyes and mouths.  We looked around for shade, but none existed, the whole street was open to the stark heat of the sun and once again we began to drip with sweat.  Luckily, a passing tuk-tuk driver had seen our plight and had no trouble enticing us into his cool, shady vehicle for the short ride into the town centre.  The 'centre' of Tha Khaek consists of a small 'Square' of parched grass and dried up shrubbery, dotted with the odd white stone bench and set off by the ever-flowing Mekong river in the background.   The French colonial architecture surrounding the square provides a beautiful backdrop of sun faded pinks and yellows and the dilapidated buildings add an air of mystery, as though in the act of stumbling upon this scene, you have ended it's mythical slumber and caught the town in the act of gentle awakening.

Walking around Tha Khaek's dirt streets, truly is like stepping back in time.  The roads stand empty, the only sign of life being the vacant shops and restaurants now housed in the beautiful, faded buildings.  Every now and then we would catch sight of a lone local face at the back of a room or sitting outside their home and we would be greeted with the biggest smiles and before you knew it the whole family had run forward to wave and shout 'Hello!', as if the town was slowly coming back to life as we walked through it.  The atmosphere was surreal, as if the town was in a perpetual state of bank holiday with the national psyche mirroring that of the mighty Mekong river, slowly carving it's way through the backbone of Laos.  Standing on the banks of this giant, with the sun low in the sky and the crumbling architecture of a world gone by behind you, it is easy to fall in love with Laos.  This is a country so far largely unchanged by the modern world,  the 21st century is certainly shaping parts of it, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane are all slowly being moulded according to outside influence, but the majority of this country is wild, untamed and among it exists hundreds of places like Tha Khaek, small little pockets of population, housed in the most magnificent, yet faded colonial architecture and living their lives as they have always lived them, at a slow and steady pace, just like their Mekong.

The reason I have had to go to so much effort to try and describe this wonderful place, is that on our first day in Tha Khaek our digital camera died.  For some inexplicable reason it just stopped working, leaving us with no photos of this gorgeous town.  My written word cannot do enough justice to this amazing place, I wish we could show you every smiling child's face, the sun setting over the Mekong and the paint peeled beauty of buildings of a world gone by, instead you will have to settle for the pictures that we found on the internet, a poor and inadequate alternative.

Tha Khaek has been a complete highlight of our trip so far, the people were so warm and accommodating, the town so peaceful and calm, it was incredibly hard to leave, but after a few days, we had to move on, Savannakhet, our gateway to Vietnam, was calling and Lisa's arrival was imminent.

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