Sabai di Laos !!!

We left Kratie by local minibus and headed north to the Cambodian - Laos border. It was quite an adventure..... We bought a ticket all the way our destination, Si Phan Dom (4000 islands), and hoped for the best. What transpired was one of our best days so far, if a little stressful!

So we first cram ourselves into a minibus with the locals, all smiles and demon of a driver. There is a standard motorbike roped to the open boot, keeping all our luggage in - PRECARIOUSLY! This part of of the journey was delightful, the people were so friendly and we were helping them all in and out.

The kids were particularly cute, smiling and giggling as we played games with them. But the fun experience was cut short and we dropped off at a random gas station just south of the border and told to wait. So we did ... For two hours. Then another mini bus turned up... Brand new with air con and plenty of room. We jumped in and headed to the border.

The border was hilarious. First the Cambodian guard was asleep, in the shiny new immigration centre. The only person in there. He stamped us out of Cambodia, obviously charging us for the pleasure.

The driver then pointed to Laos and said walk. ( I assume people can't be transported ) so we walked to Laos. Tam and I were giggling all the way with nerves and excitement.

We eventually got the imposing temple like border and approached the visa-on-arrival window with open smiles and politeness. We had read and heard some horror stories about this border crossing; that it can be a little tricky, with guards charging way over the set amount or being aggressive and bribing you to gain entry, ripping passports up if you refused. Not fun.

The smiles must of worked, we breezed into Laos without paying over the odds AND I got two marriage proposals. Hahaha! Apparently in Laos I'm a stunner. Who knew!? Ahhh, I've found my people!

With a giddiness in our step at getting through what we thought was the worst of it, we jumped back in our minivan and headed to Ban Nakasang, the port where you get a boat to Don Det the island we planning on staying.

Our smug faces didn't last that long, as we were unceremoniously chucked off our minibus at the turning for the port. Which was 4km from there. We were hollered at by a few Lao men and they put us in their pig cart/Nike thing and took us to the port.

Si Phan Don, the 4000 islands was waiting.Read more