After 10 wonderful days in Luang Prabang, we flew to Pakse, in the south of Laos. After the experience we had in Luang Prabang, Pakse is like a cold shower. Very commercial and dull, nothing to do in town, all restaurants with plastic tables and chairs and TL-light (is that the same in English?).

Luckily we directly went on to wonderful rural Champasak, 40 minutes south of Pakse along the Mekong river. In Champasak the lifes of the people haven't changed muchbecause of the tourists. There are about 5 hotels/guesthouses and a few more restaurants. There are onlyvery small house shops, no ATM, and changing money at the bank isa rather thrilling event: ittakes 3 people. One person to help youfill out the form, who will alsosign your form, asecond person to give a 2nd signature and a third person, the cassier who actually gives you the money.

We discovered Champasak on foot, by bicycle and scooter. By scooter we went to the closeby temple of Wat Phu which is like a mini Angkor Wat, same-same but different. It's older than some parts Angkor,andChampasak was ofgreat importance to the Angkorian Kingdom.It was nice to see this as a kind of appetizer before seeing Angkor.

The village of Champasak is really easy-going, with kids playing on the streets, cows walking around together with the ducks, catsand chickens. We also visitedDon Deang, an island in the middle of the Mekong river. There are no cars on the island, just bicycles and scooters. We were warped back in time about100 years. All activity ceases during the hot midday hours. The whole family gathers UNDERNEATH the house on poles and rests on big low tables, just to be off the ground. Cooking is done outside as well and the toilet is a squat house about 30 meters away. Showering does not exist for the people on Don Daeng. You can take a bath in the Mekong or pour water over yourself from a big tub outside the house. We spent the day walking around the island, absorbing the slow wonderful Lao-life and saying SABAIDEE about 1000 times to everybody, especially kids. In one of the villages, I said Sabaidee and one little boy offered me one of his candies, a salty chilli stick. Andwhen I thanked him, by saying Kapchai lai lai (thank you very much), hesmiled from ear to ear.We made a lot of friends that day :-)

We had to go back to Pakse for 2 nights because of a flue we both catched and flew to Siem Reap in Cambodia instead of going over land into Cambodia via Kratie. Siem Reap is the Las Vegas of South East Asia, one shiny big hotel after the other. The centre of town is one big tourist hub (or maybe trap). You know the hype of the little fish that eat the dead skincells off your feet? Dr. Fish? Well, they have a tub with fish every 20 meters! 15 minutes for US$ 1. 25 minutes for US$ 2 and a free beer. By the way, the fish are way bigger then they are supposed to be, so I lost a lot of hair from my legs as well, hahaha :)

But any way, Siem Reap is big business. We tried to escape it as much as we could and still tried a little bite of it as well. The fish that eat your dead skin cells, taking a massage and buying the T-shirt (Same Same ; but different). I also wanted the T-shirt (No tuk tuk; No Massage), but couldn't find the right color.

It took us 3 days to see most of the beautiful temples around Siem Reap. We found Angkor Thom, Bayon and Bantai Srei (30 kmnorth ofSeam Reap) the most beautiful, all for different reasons. We just took the bus from Siem Reap to Battambang, where we will explore the surrounding villages and wats by tuk-tuk. Then we still have 2 days in Phnom Penh and 2 days in Bangkok. Unfortunately this wonderful trip is almost over. We definately don't want it to be over. But we would also be lying if we said we are not looking forwardto talking to all of you again face to face. So, one more story to be told and a few more pictures!