This past weekend, July 18th-21st, the SAIL program went on a trip to the south of Laos. It was quite the adventure. We spent a night in Pakse and the rest of the weekend in a place called the “4,000 Island” or Si Pahn Don. Our adventure started with an 11 hour bumpy bus ride from Vientiane to Pakse. We got on a “sleeping bus” at 8:30pm in VTE and arrived in Pakse at 7:30am in the morning. It was my first time travleing by bus and I must admit that it was not the most comfortable. So be warned future travelers! You may not get a lot of sleep on the sleeping bus because it's crowded, stuffy, and the ride is bumpy.
Regardless of the bus ride, we made it safely to Pakse. We enjoyed a breakfast of Khao-pia (white rice noodles in chicken brothe) and then made our way to the Beer Lao company for a tour. One thing you should know about Laos is Beer Lao. It is the beer brand here and everyone drinks it. During the tour we learned that it's a company founded by Denmark but the Lao government owns 41% of it. They have several factories and produce not only beer but water and soft drinks.
Beer Lao
The tour of the Beer Lao company in Pakse was short but pretty cool. We saw the huge chamber-thingys that they use to process the rice, which is used to make the beer. First, they process the rice, cook it, and ferment it for 14 days, then filter it and bottle it up for sale. In my opinion, Beer Lao tastes like Michelob Light. But then again, I don't drink a lot of beer so I don't really know.
Beer Lao is one of the biggest enterprises here in Laos. Their signs are everywhere so it was good to see what the company was like. They seemed to have really good policies for their employees; they provide free lunches, transportation, give them a healthy plan, and also contribute to the community financially (they give to different organizations and support certain events).
There are many many water falls in the south of Laos! We visited so many that I am waterfalled out! It's interesting because Laos is a surrounded by land all around but it has so many big bodies of water. We visited three waterfalls in Pakse and one while we were on the Island.
Watching the water move was so amazing. What was more amazing were the men who fished in the water. I felt so scared for them but they some how did it. They used nets to fish or used these really elegant bamboo traps.
After our day of touring in Pakse we got a on a boat and traveled to a placed called the "4,000 Island." Not all the islands were big enough for people to live on but they were still counted. We stayed on the island that was called Don Kon. Our bungalow was amazing! We had mosiquto nets, an awesome bathroom, and hammacks. The island had a culture of its own. We experienced "island time" at all of our meals because it literally took 2-3 hours for us to order, eat, and pay for our meals. People really just took their time there and on our last day we were all a little annoyed.
There wasn't much to do on the island so we rented bikes and just explored. The island was so green. There were many animals and rice fields. It seemed to me that many people there still maintained the traditional life stayle of growing their own food and raising their own livestock. I found myself soaking in the green landscape and fresh air. Vientiane is so dusty, polluted, and crowded with people, buildings, and motor vehicles; I would trade it any day for the green of the island or rural side. We had so much fun biking (thank God no one hurt themselves riding in the mud). Poor Phensy did fall but it wasn't too bad.
After a few days on the island we left for Champassak Provience. We visited Wat Phu or the mountain temple. This is an international heritage site in Laos. This temple is over 1,000 years old and was built by the Khmer during the Angkor period in Laos. Its arechitecture speaks to the influence of Hindusim during the time of the Khmer-Angkor empire. I actually learned in my Lao culture class that Hindusm was brought to Laos first and from it came Bhudism. Not much remains of this temple today but it's still pretty magnificent.