A Border By Bus: Pakse, Laos to Kratie, Cambodia

The bus that took us to the border.  Behind, is the area we filled in our Visa paperwork

When Allan and I first began planning this trip, our biggest concern was the border crossing from Laos into Cambodia.

Yes, I know, crazy to be worried about a bus trip BUT the reason for our worry was the lack of information surrounding this.  For some reason, you can google "guesthouses" in the most remote areas of the world and find results but the most information on the border crossing bus trip was "Don't worry about it.  Everything works out!"

And they're right, but maybe not the way you think.

In Pakse you can buy a bus ticket anywhere really.  For our trip we choose a travel company and paid $20 USD each.  Yes, I'm sure that some people pay less and that's fine but this gave us two things:  One, a minibus ride to the edge of the border and two, a bus ride to Kratie after the border.  And yes, you will be transferring buses for sure.

The morning after the long bus trip.  The view from the top floor of the guesthouse.

Minibuses either pick you up from your guesthouse/hotel or you can walk to the travel company.  We chose the latter as it was across the street.  We jumped in the minibus at 8 am and spent the next 35 minutes picking up other people making the same or a similar journey.  (This minibus was also doing a drop off to Don Det and Don Khong.) After loading everyone in, we drove for about three hours and turned off the main road and came to a bus hub where all the people going to Cambodia (just me and Allan at this point) get off.  Then, we were herded to a man accepting our bus passes to Kratie and were told to wait.  And we did wait, for about 30 minutes.

Kratie, Cambodia.  Waiting for the next minibus to take us to Phnom Penh

At this point a different man showed up, along with a bus full of other people going to Cambodia, and he assisted us in filling out the visa application and such.  He also explained that if we paid the $30 USD each to him, that he would go into the border himself and obtain Visas for everyone, instead of us having to haggle with the border guards ourselves.  We said absolutely yes to this and gave him the $60 as well as our passports.

Then, we waited for another 30 minutes.

More people came, more paperwork was filled out and finally, we jumped aboard an old smaller bus that would be taking us to the border only.  Everyone gets in, we're seated, and about half way to the border, the bus breaks down.  The driver performs a miracle and with the help of all the boys push starting the bus, we were back on our way to the border.  About 15 minutes later, we're there.

Everyone gets their luggage/backpacks and got off the bus.  The man assisting us with obtaining the Visa (still has all our passports) walked away to the border and said he will be back in about 20 minutes.  We were then told to walk, with bags in hand, across the border as you're not allowed to be transported over.  We walk to the other side and wait, again.

Ants that bite.  We actually end up eating ants like this in Phnom Penh as part of an ant stew

An hour and a half later, we get out passports from the man who was helping us all and a bus has shown up to take us on the next leg of the journey.  Unfortunately, as is common practise, too many tickets have been sold and people are now sitting in the aisles but we're all on board and making the trek.

The roads from the border to Kratie are some of the worst roads we've ever encountered.  The potholes were so bad that everyone aboard the bus was bouncing away and some people were getting very sick.  Then, after driving about an hour, the bus breaks down.

Mekong River fishing boat

If this were Canada, we'd have been waiting for a long time for another bus to come BUT it was almost like they were prepared for this, about 45 minutes later a bus came and we all grabbed our luggage and moved to the next bus.  10 minutes later we're on the bumpy road again.

There was one quick dinner stop along the way and after 12 hours, we arrived in Kratie unscathed.  (The journey was originally quoted as taking 6 hours.)  But we made it!!

Regardless of time it took, the system worked and everyone who originally said "Don't worry about it.  Everything will work out" was absolutely right.

 

Highlights of our Laos Adventure

The White Buddha, Laos

Laos will always remain one of our favorite places to travel.  It was the first country we saw on this backpacking trip and we met a great group of people who made the traveling that much more fun.

Counting down, here are the highights of our Laos adventure (in no particular order):

Street food in Luang Prabang's Night Market - Cheap, tasty and some of the best food we've had thus far.  I want to bring pancake man home with me....

Kuang Si Falls - Our boat/truck adventure to get there, the rope swing, the crystal blue waters, and the swimming.  AND, let's not forget, being accosted by Japanese tourists.  These falls were amazing.

Our Village Homestay - Monkeys chasing us through the village, sleeping in one large room on the floor with all our Stray friends, cheap LaoLao, being bitten 3 times by the SAME dog, dancing to Laotian tunes, home cooked meals and walking through a river to get there.  Honestly, it doesn't get more off the beaten track than this!

Kong Lor Cave - Still, to date, the best cave we've ever seen.  Boating through the cave, almost tipping over about 5 times, seeing bats (twice), the boat breaking down in the pitch black once, drinking opened water from a bottle and being told it was bad water by the woman selling it, swimming in the lagoon by the cave, walking through the jungle and forest to get there.  Another fantastic adventure!

The coffee - Laos had some of the best coffee I've tasted and I have yet to have anything that great since.  I really miss my morning cappucino from Saffron!!

Looking down over Vientiane, Laos

Now, on to Cambodia!

 

A Village Homestay in Laos

Our village homestay...oh, and monkeys and goats

Thanks to Stray, we were able to experience a Village Homestay.  Yes, the name says it all; we stay the night in a remote village.

This one, unfortunately, had a river we had to walk across AND monkeys sitting and waiting, beside our walking path, for food.

And you know how much I LOVE monkeys....ha.  Yeah, right.  Monkeys can seriously rip your face off....Anyway, on to the Homestay and more on the monkeys later.

Abandoned church

After a long day of driving and seeing a few sights along the way (a gorgeous abandoned temple and turtle pond), we made our way to a huge riverbank and were told to pack a small bag to take to the Village Homestay.  (Actually, we were told to bring ONLY a toothbrush and toothpaste, maybe a pair of socks, as we'd be sleeping in our clothes.)  After getting off the bus, our guide said a little boat would arrive to take us to the other side.

But the boat never came.

Walking the river

So, being the adventurous travellers we all were, we decided to walk across the river as it didn't look to deep and, from the other side, we would make our way through the forest to the Village.

Seriously, they are everywhere

We crossed with no issues, of course, and made our way through the forest.  It was here that I was told of the looming monkeys and also was told that anyone holding food should watch themselves.  Since the whole group knew of my fear of monkeys, they all start to taunt me and give me piles of bananas.  I take them, of course, like a trooper, and proceed to walk through the forest thinking of myself as the great adventurer that I am.

And then I saw the monkeys....and what do I do???  I throw ALL the bananas I was holding at the monkeys and run....I run almost the whole way to this remote village before I realize I actually have no idea where I am going....The group comes, shortly after, laughing at me the entire way to the Homestay.

I guess I am not the adventurer I thought I was.

Prepping dinner

Anyway, the homestay was really nice and quaint.  All 12 of us stayed in a large room where the village had placed mattresses down.  Our local guide, and our cook for the evening, began making us dinner with all the ingrediants we'd picked up at a market earlier in the day.  The group of us decided to explore the grounds, find the LaoLao and of course, meet more monkeys (sigh...).

Look at their crazy eyes

Allan feeding the monkey.  The village kids thought we were hilarious...

We met a ton of monkeys around the grounds and did, indeed, find a lot of LaoLao too.  In case you aren't reading between the lines, we found so much LaoLao that our night was filled with drunken fun times and good food.  However, since we were staying in a Village, and were getting slightly rowdy (thanks LaoLao), we packed in for the evening around 9 pm.

Partytime

Group shot, minus a couple

After a nice and cosy sleep, and a quick breakfast of eggs and baguettes, we walked to the bus, crossing the river again by foot, during the hardest and longest rainfall I've ever heard.

Needless to say, it was a great adventure and one we'll remember forever!

 

Kong Lor Cave, Laos

The walk to Kong Lor Cave

There is really nothing to do in Kong Lor aside from relaxing and drinking, as you all found out in the last post....EXCEPT for one major thing: Kong Lor Cave.

Getting closer to the cave....

Kong Lor Cave is a 7 km long cave accessable only by boat.  The cave is completely in the dark, aside from one small walkable area where you get out of the boat to explore.  Aside from that, you are in a boat with a headlamp and the eery darkness around you.  Yes, there are bats and yes, there are probably some of the weirdest creatures in the depths of the waters but it was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of our time in Laos.

The cave, at last!  The boats are at the end of the path

The boats

The one walkable area through Kong Lor Cave

Light at the end of utter darkness

The remote village on the other end of the cave

 At the end of the cave, you emerge into the lush tropical landscape and a little remote village sits atop the riverbank.  Water buffalo were bathing on either side of us, as our boat putted down the river.  After stopping at the village for a quick loo break, we hopped back in the boat, boated back through the pitch black cave and out the way we came in.

The end of our cave adventure

Swimming!!

Then, we got to swim in the beautiful crystal blue lagoon waters.

Allan and I have seen quite a few caves now and this one still remains one of the best things we've seen, thus far.  I highly recommend this to anyone going to Laos in the future!

 

Kong Lor and Rejoining the Stray Asia Tour

The gorgeous Laos mountains

After jumping off the Stray Asia tour in Vientiane, we were happy to jump back on the tour bus about 4 days later. This time, we jumped on for the remainder of our time in Laos as this bus was to take us to Pakse where we would then cross the border into Cambodia on our own.

I will say that this bus brought a whole new tour guide crew and the best travelers ever.  We really lucked out this time around.

Sleepy, but beautiful, Kong Lor

We made the journey from Vientiane to Kong Lor.  The travel time took about 6 hours total but the drive was absolutely beautiful.  We stopped, like we normally would, every two hours for bathroom breaks and food, and made it to Kong Lor at around 3 pm.

Our guesthouse for the next two days

Kong Lor doesn't have too many people that live there.  In fact, the village itself is completely off the beaten track.  It's almost completely isolated, aside from a handful of tourists, and snack dab in the middle of a valley.  There is only one road in to Kong Lor and the same road takes you out as well.  Buses come by, occasionally, as there is a major site to see, but the village itself is self-contained and seems to function very well whether the tourists came by or not.  It's a sleepy village which relies solely on farming and they farm everything from rice to tobacco.  They also have no streetlamps or even a paved road.  Needless to say, it was a breathtaking change of pace from the chaotic busyness of Vientiane.

No night is complete without BeerLao, Rice Wine and LaoLao

As a group, we decided to stay in Kong Lor for two nights.  All of us were drawn in to this sleepy town and loved the change of pace.  Our first night, we all explored the "town", taking pictures and drinking cheep Beer Lao and Lao Lao Whiskey.  Some of us got really drunk and others took pictures of those who were really drunk.  Either way, we bonded as a group and had a great time.

Our drinking hole for the evening

The next morning, we explored Kong Lor Cave.....

And the fattest water buffalo in Kong Lor