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July 18--Champasak
Jul. 18th, 2018 08:08 amWe left our place on Don Det island and took the long tail boat back over to the mainland. It started raining a bit as we took off, and rained for the rest of the day. We've been kind of lucky about the rain since we've been here, so today was our rain day.
We met our minivan driver, who would take us to the ferry crossing up the river, and then over into Champasak, where we were staying for another day so we could visit Wat Phu, a Khmer temple complex outside of town. We got to the ferry crossing and saw the ferry:
We decided against it, and took a long tail boat over. As it turned out,this was a good choice, as our hotel was on the far border, and we were able to get off at the hotel dock. We are staying at a place right on the river. It is "posh", and probably the best place we have stayed on our trip. We could tell it was fancy because the prices are all in US dollars. They greeted us at the dock and brought us in out of the (now) pouring rain and gave us tea.
Our posh room, complete with hot water shower!
We had lunch and rested a while before deciding to head out to the temple complex in the pouring rain in a little tuk-tuk. I would have been happy to stay here and read, but everyone else wanted to go, so I went too, and am glad I did. Mack and Bella stayed behind for a massage.
Wat Phu is similar to the temples we saw in Angkor Wat. and was part of the Khmer empire. Adi says there was once a road that led from here to Angkor Wat, and on the map, they are really just a few hundred kilometers apart.
You can see how hard it is raining in this shot, but Malida looks happy in her nice rain jacket. She pointed out that the rain gave the pictures a cool effect that we wouldn't have gotten on a hot, sunny day.
Above the palace buildings are three levels, each separated by stone steps (70! says an old lady coming down). at the top is a sanctuary with the Buddha image and a natural spring creating a small waterfall. In this picture, you can see the waterfall to the left of the two trees, just above the building.
We walked up the slippery stone steps slowly. I juggled my camera and my umbrella, and got pretty good at one-handed shooting.
Adi and Milly climbing the steps. They managed to look fairly dry throughout the afternoon.
The sanctuary at the top.
The natural spring waterfall. After this we went back down and back to the hotel to rest. We got dry and met down in the open area for happy hour and then had dinner. Today we will drop them off at the airport, then head back to Ubon. It's been a wonderful adventure.
Absinthe at happy hour.
We met our minivan driver, who would take us to the ferry crossing up the river, and then over into Champasak, where we were staying for another day so we could visit Wat Phu, a Khmer temple complex outside of town. We got to the ferry crossing and saw the ferry:
We decided against it, and took a long tail boat over. As it turned out,this was a good choice, as our hotel was on the far border, and we were able to get off at the hotel dock. We are staying at a place right on the river. It is "posh", and probably the best place we have stayed on our trip. We could tell it was fancy because the prices are all in US dollars. They greeted us at the dock and brought us in out of the (now) pouring rain and gave us tea.
Our posh room, complete with hot water shower!
We had lunch and rested a while before deciding to head out to the temple complex in the pouring rain in a little tuk-tuk. I would have been happy to stay here and read, but everyone else wanted to go, so I went too, and am glad I did. Mack and Bella stayed behind for a massage.
Wat Phu is similar to the temples we saw in Angkor Wat. and was part of the Khmer empire. Adi says there was once a road that led from here to Angkor Wat, and on the map, they are really just a few hundred kilometers apart.
You can see how hard it is raining in this shot, but Malida looks happy in her nice rain jacket. She pointed out that the rain gave the pictures a cool effect that we wouldn't have gotten on a hot, sunny day.
Above the palace buildings are three levels, each separated by stone steps (70! says an old lady coming down). at the top is a sanctuary with the Buddha image and a natural spring creating a small waterfall. In this picture, you can see the waterfall to the left of the two trees, just above the building.
We walked up the slippery stone steps slowly. I juggled my camera and my umbrella, and got pretty good at one-handed shooting.
Adi and Milly climbing the steps. They managed to look fairly dry throughout the afternoon.
The sanctuary at the top.
The natural spring waterfall. After this we went back down and back to the hotel to rest. We got dry and met down in the open area for happy hour and then had dinner. Today we will drop them off at the airport, then head back to Ubon. It's been a wonderful adventure.
Absinthe at happy hour.
