Wednesday, April 21, 2010

April 21, 2010 Savanaket, Laos










Today I am in Savanaket. Yesterday I started in Sekong, and the day before - Attapeu.


Here is how my day was Monday - April 19, beginning in Attapeu.

The bus station in Attepeu is 8 - 10 kilometers out town. I came to town on a Tut

Tut from the bus station , and have not seen a tut tut since. I think tourist travel is way off in this area.

So this morning when I started for the bus station, there were no taxis, tut tuts or

anything. I started walking down the highway toward the bus station - thankfully it was

cool - 7:15 a.m.

I thumbed, I flagged, I smiled, I got discouraged! But then a little soul searching - back

up .... let's do it! More thumbing, more flagging, and THEN a guy on a motorbike stopped and

took me all the way to the bus station, which I think was out of his way!

I offered to pay, but he said 'no' - and drove off. I turned around and my bus to Sekong was

ready to leave. I got on, got a nice seat, and the bus pulled out!! NICE. And the bus was

air conditioned, and it worked and they had it on!! The ticket man came around. The ticket

cost 20,000 kip - $2.50.

The ride was nice and took about 3- 1/2 hours. We traveled 65 miles.

In Sekong, there were no TOUTS - the guys that drive tourist crazy in some places. However,

there was NO-ONE! I think I had rather have touts. So I started asking where my hotel was

- and was always met with an empty stare. Where is town? nothing. Where is the center of

town? nothing.



I started walking. ..... I came to a big gasoline station with a "kinda" store with it. I

went in and there was a young guy who spoke a little English. He did not go blank when I

asked him where my hotel was! "a good sign!".

he tried to tell me, then signaled for me to wait, then came back and signaled (he knows

charade sign language) that he would take me! --- Thank you, Lord! ... again!

The Hotel was not too far away, but too far to explain. Too many turns.

My Hotel - the Sekong Souksamlane Hotel , had a non air condition room for 50,000 kip,
( $6.00). The weather was cooler - just the sun was HOT, and with large windows and an overhead fan, plus hot water and attached bath, it was very pleasant.


Later in the day, as I was walking around town I learned how to get back to the bus station -- about a 30 minutes walk.

In this town my guide book told me I could rent a bike and travel to various villages.

However, the book is old, and no one in town has a bicycle for rent. Not many even ride them
any more . It's all motorbikes.

This town also has no Internet. The stores sell cell phones and big TV's, and a lot of
businesses have computers - but no internet yet. Guess the money has to catch up with
technology. Too much at one time - can't afford it all at once!!!

After arriving at hotel, I was interested in finding the market so I could buy some flip
flops. My big shopping spree. Well, let me tell you, when no one speaks English, they
just "ain't able" to tell you anything!...... And " Charade's sign language " is hard for - "where
is the market?"

It took me an hour or so to finally find an English speaker who could tell me - "two blocks

- left - two blocks!" to the market. While looking for the market .. however .. I got a shave and a head massage - wow - nice.

Cost 60 cents, but I threw in a 30 cent tip!

Found the market. Now one thing I remember about markets is they always seemed to have a million pair of flip flops. HOWEVER .. Not this one..... But there were certain stalls that did
have a small selection. And small sizes!

I checked all the stores/stalls and finally found one place that had a shoe to fit my normal sized
American feet. And of course it was some famous name brand that cost $5.00 not the normal
$2.00. I didn't even like them, but just gave up shopping and bought them .... the only pair I had found that fit!!


Had fried chicken for dinner. that was interesting. Very tasty, and I enjoyed it , but the
chicken must have been cut up into 130 pieces!, and I didn't get very many of the pieces.

See pictures of my chicken dinner, my hotel, and the bus station.
Tomorrow I leave for Savanaket. A much larger city.

So now it is Tuesday April 20. I got up really early to have an enjoyable cup of coffee in my room and to have a cup of rama noodle soup for breakfast, before setting out to catch a bus to Savanaket.

I had found how to get to the bus station the day before, so I set out about 7;00, in the cool of the day. What I missed was one little road to the side, that went a block and then back to a paved road - just like the one I was on! After 45 minutes - I knew something was wrong ... and what was wrong is that I was LOST.

Fortunately, about that time a tut tut came by, and for 5,000 kip, he took me the 5 blocks to the bus station. I was relieved.

The trip to Savanaket was about 225 kilometers, (less than 150 miles). The bus was a local, not an express - but that suited me. It was not Air conditioned but I got a window seat, and it was a fairly nice bus. In the US it would have been called a dumpy bus!

I got to see a lot of "stuff" on the trip. We must have picked up and dropped off about 500 people. PLUS cargo. I have pictures of some of the baskets we carried.

It was an 8-1/2 hour ride, so timewise I got my money's worth. and it was a nice ride. Definitely not rushed. In addition to all the stops we made , we also made toilet stops. Now, these were not at a bus depot. These were out on the open road where there were a lot of bushes!

In Savanaket, and many other towns in Laos, people live in their stores, or just don't even have a store and live in the store. These are stores that open up sort like a garage door. the room is wide open, and in many cases it is the family's - family room, bedroom, and kitchen. I have a picture of one lady who let me photo her as she was eating lunch and watching her favorite soap opera.

When we got to Savanaket, I was looking forward to a western type meal, but that was not to be.
I ended up with fried rice which is always good, and then for breakfast this morning, I didn't even hunt for eggs. Just stopped at the first place I came to and had noodle soup! BUT ... for lunch I went to a place I had seen that had french fries, and that was my lunch!

Tonight I hope to find something a little different for dinner.

My Guest house is Saisouk, and again I went with no AC, with fan and attached bath, but with cold water. The room has large windows and is cool. Same price as the place in Sekong.

will stop at this .
Johnny

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