Pakse to Thakhek by bus

Slightly groggy wake up from the huge dinner last night, but what a joy on that terrace. Nice hotel too.

Have to get up and physically check on the bus schedule at the station because of the bicycle, which not every bus line will take. I'm in luck, it leaves in 2 hours, I have time to enjoy the free breakfast at the hotel.

I overpaid the fare based on the price written on the ticket and I check with the hotel manager who says that 8 is actually a 2, but in the west it's clearly an 8. I go back to ask the young lady at the counter and she quickly makes it right, but she was going to keep the extra if I hadn't asked.

My Pakse stay was really efficient, it's a large city, but everything I needed was close by. Good flow.

The bus driver walks to the back of the old bus with a wrench in his hand and lifts a panel that accesses the motor. This is going to be an interesting trip!

A new Heineken sign is transported on a truck, my father knew Freddy well back in Amsterdam right after the war. Here I am in 2025 thinking Freddy would be happy to see that sign go up.

337km glide by my window over a bumpy road, the bus finds itself on the wrong side often to avoid most of the potholes. Mind you, this the main North - South artery in Laos. All the big supply trucks for southern Laos go through Thailand instead. The air quality is dense with a lot of particulates. It's nice for an almost senior citizen to skip this section of low interest and poor air quality, the Germans rode it though.

Across the Mekong is Thailand and I'm in time to have a sunset dinner at the 'Bouton d'or' right on the water. An older lady is fishing with a traditional net lifting it up regularly hoping for a fish. Lucky timing; I got to catch these shots.Leggi altro