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  Monday 5th of January 2015 I had asked for two wake up calls, one at 6 thirty and one at 7. That will give me time for breakfast before they come to pick me up at 9. I had time to update my web  page and to drink a diet drink before going for my breakfast.
I had breakfast, the baguette left a whole lot to wish for. But they have pots with tea and they also had honey so I was, well, kind of satisfied when I left the restaurant. I was soon back in my room to kill 15 minutes before the driver would come to pick me up. I was outside waiting when the driver came up to me. And I was happy that we didn't had to go in a van. He came with a KIA, A  Korean brand car. I had never been in a KIA before, but I had seen them and I had been thinking that this  must be a heap of crap. So I was surprised, I was sitting very comfortable and riding a KIA for the first time turned out to be a good experience. We left my hotel and we would start the day by visiting the Vat Phou and we had to cross the bridge over the Mekong River. This is the first time I go over a bridge crossing the  Mekong River so this was a wee bit exciting.
It took us about 40 minutes to get to the Vat Phou and it looked like it was quite a distance from the entrance to the ruins. And it was hot, what a difference it is from the North of Laos. More than 30°C here in the South. Luckily enough they had electric carts going between the Vat Phou ruins and the entrance.
I spent a few minutes before I went to the entrance and my waiting driver. I stopped to buy a diet drink before I left. I asked two times before the girl answered. She was just sitting there playing with her mobile phone. I asked her if she worked here and she never let her eyes of the phone. Maybe it is me getting old, if you're hired by someone to service customer you should not play with the phone. I left my diet drink on the desk top and I left. So someone is hiring her to take care of the shop at Vat Phou and she scare away the customers. Someone have made an investment, then decide to hire her and she foocks up the investment. WAY TO GO! My driver was waiting and we drove for about 20 minutes before I asked him to stop. I wanted to  go check out the work in the rice paddies. Most of the people I have met in Laos have worked on a farm at some point of their life. They are usually very surprised when I tell them that I used to  work on a farm when I was 13 years old or something like that. But we worked with potatoes and not rice.
We stopped and I got out of the car and I was away walking around looking at the farmers working. I hard work end the back bone of the county. And for sure, they get no respect at all. As in Thailand, people are looking down on these hard working people. But come along, someone stealing a billion or two so they can't build schools. He drives a nice car, like stealing a car and this person is looked upon with admiration. The lot should be in prison!
We left the rice paddies behind and next stop was the Tad Fan waterfall. We had to drive back to Pakse and then about 40 km in the other direction. We decided to stop for lunch before we left for
I asked if he knew any good and clean restaurants in Pakse, maybe a French restaurant? I had L'Elephant in Luang Prabang in mind. He told me that he knew a French restaurant and we took off to Pakse for lunch. I saw a giant Buddha on the mountain when we approached Pakse and I asked if  it was possible to drive there by car.
- Yes, we can go by car - Good, let's go have a look The Buddha is called Phu Salao, Golden Buddha and there is a temple on the mountain. It was quite a long way up on the mountain. I got out of the car at the giant Buddha and I had a beautiful view over Mekong River and Pakse on the other side of the river. There were four girls on 2 motorcycles and we chatted for a while. They left, well, one motorcycle left and one stayed behind and we continued the chat. The other two girls came back and all of them left. Good, I could take my pictures of the views from the Phu Salao, Golden Buddha. My hotel was just on the other side of the bridge. I could also see the  airport and there were two Lao Airlines plane at the terminal.
But no plane took off and I was a little bit disappointed, would be nice with a picture of a plane taking off. When I was ready with the pictures I got in to the car and we drove to the temple a few hundred meters away. I got out of the car again and I went to check the view over the River Mekong.   Phu Salao, Golden Buddha frommy hotel
 My hotel on the other side of the Mekong River
 Pakse and my hotel on the other side of the Mekong River
 Mekong River
 Pakse Airport on the other side of the Mekong River
    My hotel on the other side of the Mekong River
 Mekong River
 It was a beautiful temple
 It was a beautiful temple
 It was a beautiful temple
The temple was very beautiful with plenty colours as the Buddhist temples usually are. We were soon on our way to the French Restaurant and when the driver stopped outside a, well, I call it a place, not a restaurant. At least there was nothing reminding me about L'Elephant. I got a menu and there was no French food (baguette) and when I asked if they had fresh bread the Waitress pointed at garlic bread in the menu. I ordered schnitzel and tea. When my driver  came in they handed him a menu with Lao/ Thai food and I asked why I had not got this menu.
They had the green curry and the driver asked for a bowl. I asked for Lao spring rolls. I was already full after the schnitzel so I only ate half of the spring rolls. I read in the newspaper in Vientiane that the farmers didn't ate their vegetable because they used so much chemicals on them. After that I gave up eating vegetables in Laos, and my guess is that it is the same in Thailand. So I left the vegetables and the French fries that came with the schnitzel, but even then I was full. We left the restaurant and it took us about 30 minutes to reach the Tad Fan waterfalls. I got out of the car and I walked towards a Guesthouse that was located at the waterfalls. I saw a garbage  bin where they asked us to segregate the garbage.
I reached the waterfall and it was on the other side of a deep valley and it was very hard to see the bottom of the falls. There were 2 viewing points and a path leading down to the bottom of the falls. But it looked to be very step and I decided to stay at the top. I met three guys from Korea and they enjoyed the Tad Fan waterfalls. They had been going around Laos and they were going back home tomorrow.
We left the Tad Fan waterfall and we drove to the next waterfall. They wanted to charge me a “foreigner” price to come in and see the waterfall. I told the driver to leave and we went to check  out a tea plantation instead. If they want me to pay double price for being a tourist, they can keep the waterfall for the Lao people. First 32 US Dollars for the visa and then I will have to pay extra to see a waterfall.
We stopped at a tea and coffee plantation and they were in full swing making tea when we arrived. My driver and I went town to look at the tea plants.  Fresh tea leave
 Tea plant
 Tea plants
 Tea plant
 Jasmine flower
 Tea plantation
 Coffee
 Coffee drying in the sun
I bought a bag of tea when we left, there had been a misunderstanding, I thought the old lady said that they tea would be good for one month. But the tea will stay good for a year or two in a jar. I  could have bought more tea.  Hmm, maybe I was lucky, the tea might taste like sh**
Anyway, I'm looking forward to get back home to try the tea. We stopped at Jiffy and I bought a bag of diet drinks and ice cream for me and the driver. I was back in my room around 4 o'clock and I will spend the rest of the day relaxing. Actually, there is not much else to do in Pakse. It will be nice to leave for the Vat Phou Cruise tomorrow and they will pick me up at 9 thirty. The afternoon was spent checking the pictures. I had seen that they had another restaurant at the hotel. The SA LA GANG KONG and I quote: The most talked about places in town. Sa la Gang Kong is perfect for family and friends to share a casual meal and relaxing dining experience. Asian buffet is available for lunch. A show kitchen features a wide range of Mekong and seafood dishes as well as an a la carte menu serving for dinner, accompanied by a live music until late night. Located: Mekong riverside Hours : Dinner: 05.00pm – 11.00 pm.  Passing the swimming pool on the way to Sa la Gang Kong
 Passing the swimming pool on the way to Sa la Gang Kong
 Sa la Gang Kong
 Sa la Gang Kong
 Sa la Gang Kong
 Sa la Gang Kong
 Champasak Grand Hotel in Pakse
 Champasak Grand Hotel in Pakse
I had a pot of tea and a plate of Lao sausages. I had a small pizza and I returned to my room. Wake up call at 7 and 7 thirty tomorrow morning. Time for a shower and breakfast  before they pick me up at 9 thirty for the Vat Phou Cruise.
My last activity in Laos and I'm actually looking forward to get back home now. It have been fantastic, bit it is almost 3 weeks and I need to get back to my exercise and fresh fruit, in short: My diet! Mekong cruise next, and you just have to click HERE to find yourself on board the Vat Phou Cruise
    
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To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
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