Champasak & Wat Phu
Our final few stops in Laos brought us back to the waters of the Mekong. We arrived in Champasak by boat, and meandered our way through the sleepy town, looking for a guesthouse along the side of the road fronting the river (reminiscent of Muang Ngoy). In the nearly three days we spent in Champasak, my memory is mostly of gazing out at that water. The river is wide here and there is an infinite calm associated with the flat horizon it creates.
Champasak sees most of its tourist draw from the ruins at Wat Phu, an ancient Khmer religious complex which stretches 1,400m up the Phu Pasak mountain range. The name translates to ‘temple-mountain’ and it definitely feels like that. The steps alone are gigantic, making you feel as if you’re climbing to another realm; and indeed, the notion is that it should be difficult for a mortal to reach the gods. We didn’t find the structures to be quite as compelling as the site itself, with its mysterious airs and the ever-changing perspective as you climb, not to mention the sweeping views of the surrounding area once you reach the summit. The site is dotted with countless flowering frangipani trees, the Lao national flower, and swept us up in the swelling emotion of national pride for a country we had truly come to love.
Si Phan Don
Si Phan Don is at the southernmost tip of Laos, right near the border with Cambodia, and is also know by its translation: ‘four thousand islands’. The Mekong spans even wider down here with islands big and small dotting the water like a splatter paint picture. We arrived by boat again, choosing to stay on Don Det (map here), one of two islands equipped with tourist accommodations. There are so many accommodations, in fact, that it’s a bit overwhelming figuring out which is the right one for you. But despite the mid-day heat, we stumbled our way into a private duplex bungalow on the sunset side of the island for $5/night. It was a sweet spot and one we called home for a full week; our longest stay yet in any one place!
This final week in Laos was like one long swan song. We sat on the beach, we rode bikes, we read, we watched the sunset. But it also presented new challenges to us as travelers, like when I came down with a nasty bout of food poisoning, and then The Hubs followed suit just a few nights later. There was something primitive about the whole experience, and not just because the plumbing in Laos never exactly instilled confidence. It stripped away all the distractions of our travel, forcing us to focus on our immediate needs and meet them. It made us rest finally! But the loveliest part – if I can say that about a double-header of food poisoning – was that it brought us closer together. Over the less-than-pleasant 72-hour period, we danced this symbiotic dance between patient and caregiver, and I couldn’t help feeling incredibly grateful in the face of all that vulnerability. We celebrated 10 years together on Don Det, just about the same time time we were both eating solid foods again – a cause for twice the celebration – and a wonderful way to end our six weeks in Laos.
I’ll leave off with some highlights from all those sunsets we caught off our balcony.
Routeless Ruminations 