Some complicated travel days weigh on us. Will we have enough patience and flexibility to get to our destination? We tell ourselves it’s just a matter of passing time, and we WILL get there. This is the tale of one of those kinds of days….
We celebrated our last night – and the gorgeous sunset – at The Panorama Restaurant on top of the Pakse Hotel.
This particular travel day was filled with more than the usual uncertainty. We had one sheet of blue paper that said we’d paid for 4 tickets on a VIP bus from Pakse, Laos. While the curtains were over the top, a lot of the seats were broken.
When we arrived in the tiny village of Nakasang, we tried to understand the driver’s directions for where to go to catch the ferry. We picked up only an occasional English word but, in the end, just followed the crowd. We expected the ferryboat to look more like our idea of a ferry.
Luggage was piled high in the front, and passengers sat on the wooden planks behind.
There was a moment of confusion as the ferry stopped at an island. Where were we? Don Det, we were told, but we figured out on our own that was just a quick stop and the ferry quickly took off again. Using iPhones to check where we were, all were reassured as we headed for the little dock at Don Khone Island, our destination.
Six hours had passed since we left the hotel in Pakse, and we are very hot, tired and hungry. Still, we needed to get tuktuks to take the 4 of us – and our luggage – about 3 miles across the island to the southern tip where we’d be staying.
Cliff and Ruth were in the tuktuk ahead of us, laying a nice cloud of dust for us to pass through.
We made it! It was a sweet moment to look out the window in our room. The Mekong River flowed below us, and we looked out to Cambodia across the water.
We headed down to the river right before sunset.
When sunset came, we happily took lots of photos.
The day was bookended with a sunset in Pakse the night before, and, now, a sunset on Don Khone. With a little patience and some flexibility on our parts, we had made it to the 4,000 Islands.
February 2018
simpletravelourway 
Holy smoke. You guys have a lot of trust 😉 and patience. No one got dehydrated????
Yes, we had a lot of trust, patience – and water with us!
Sometimes a travel day is a necessity. Those curtains on the bus are very elaborate!
Aren’t they amazing? The bus was pretty shabby otherwise and Joe suffered for the duration of the trip with a broken seat. Still, what over-the-top curtains!
patience and flexibility — a good rule for life in general. How much happier we’d all be, if we developed these characteristics more fully.
Been there. Well, not this exact situation. But I remember a specific overnight bus journey crossing the border from Ecuador to Peru where I was hot, sweaty, disoriented and not sure I was going to make it out alive. It happens! Always a huge relief and great sense of accomplishment to finally get to that next place though. 🙂
That is so true – but we also find we take a few more steps now more than we did before to avoid these crazy journeys by bus and boat. The return journey was ever so much easier when we knew exactly where to go and how the journey worked.
Love the photos of the boats on the river before and at sunset. For any traveler, patience and persistence have to be some of the most necessary attributes you need. And don’t forget to add in a “wing and a prayer” too! Anita
Good post but we would add one further element HOPE.
I can see how it was hot, dusty and tiring, but the photos reveal some wonderful views and country (and so green, as I stare out at the snow!)
As ever, I enjoy reading how you take the interesting route!