Bolaven Plateau
We had an amazing day today going to the Bolaven Plateau near Pakxe. We went on a tour and though we were meant to be at least 4 people on it, the morning of the trip, everyone else cancelled so Phil and I got a private tour for a fraction of its normal price – how lucky!
We were very excited! Set off from Pakxe with Jack, the driver and Ta, our guide for the day. Both were really friendly and good fun and both of them spoke English very well, which meant we got to ask lots of questions!
First off, we went to a tea plantation and saw the trees, where they pick the Green Tea leaves from. The trees look really cute, they are quite small and you only pick the very young light green leaves for the tea. We watched the farmer there and his family at work and they are so fast! You have to pick it all by hand and of course you need to know which leaves are good for picking and which aren’t and their eyes are so trained, they are super fast at it. It’s hard work and their farm measured about 4 hectares which they worked as a family of about five or six people. We were told that every tree gets its leaves picked every 14 days and in between you have to maintain them of course and do the weeding and everything else that goes with it. Hard work!
We also saw how they then dry the leaves and roast them to develop the flavour and we got to try some of their freshly brewed tea – it was very nice! We also saw coffee plantations and you basically get two types grown in this region – arabica and robusta. Of the two, arabica fetches a better price and the trees are different to the robusta coffee trees. They are much smaller and the leaves are smaller too, but the coffee berries are much much bigger.
You can see this big old leafy tree and then when you look closer, you can see these massive big red berries hanging off them. These will be picked by hand, then put through a machine in order to get the seed out of each berry, which is then dried in the sun, then roasted and then becomes the coffee as we know it! Most of the coffee that Laos produces is for its own use, but also they export a lot to France. The coffee itself is very nice and it’s definitely worth trying if you ever get the chance.
After seeing the tea and coffee plantations, we made our way to see one of the famous waterfalls in the area. It’s called Tad Fane and it consists of two parallel streams thundering into a canyon some 200 metres below. The area is surrounded by jungle, cliffs and mountains and is absolutely spectacular! We spent a long time on the viewing platform across the gorge when Ta announced that we were going to take a short drive and then we would get to walk to the actual falls! We were very excited and began our trek through some really thick and dense undergrowth downhill. At times we couldn’t really see the track but we kept following Ta, swinging off some tree trunks and holding on to anything that would come in handy as the going was tough. We were then rewarded by arriving at the first of the two parallel waterfall streams, right at the top of it. We balanced over some stones and skipped across and then were standing right at the edge of the drop. It was truly high and scary and the water was just gushing along and then tumbling down the abyss! We peeked over the edge and you could see the ground so far down and it was so scary, I had to get down on my hands and knees to look, otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to stand up and not fall in! It’s a great big gorge or like a canyon, I don’t really know the right word for it, but it’s amazingly beautiful.
We clambered on to get to the second stream and of the two, it looked a much bigger stream and was more thundery on its way down. After some more fighting through undergrowth, we finally made it. WOW! What amazes me is how the water so casually flows along like a little river and then all of a sudden you have this massive bit of nothing. That’s it. Wheeeeeee and you’re down… it’s crazy really. Phil took some pictures over the edge and I was so scared for him and was grabbing his top and holding on to him, because I was convinced he’d trip or something similar and then that would be it. Thank God all went well.
After some more hard work, we made it out of the jungle and saw another waterfall – I forgot the name now, which was really lovely too but more of a tourist spot. As it wasn’t too hot, we decided we’d leave the swimming in ice cold water for another day! Ta looked relieved when we said we weren’t too fussed about going swimming, the poor man was shivering and was wearing a vest, a long sleeve thick flannel shirt and a jacket! Phil and I were in our shorts and t-shirts…
On to lunch, which was so delicious! We had some rice and an omelet with stir fried vegetables and we munched it all up followed by lovely fresh pineapple and banana. YumYum! We then went on the road again and this time, went a bit further afield in order to get to another beauty spot deep in the forest. En route, we picked up Ta’s cousin, who was local to the area there, so he could show us the way.
We first went to a great big rock, where we prayed at the shrine and saw the place where a monk has been living for 5 years. It’s the world’s smallest room with a mat and a pot in it by the side of the rock. That’s it. Man, it must be so cold!! We also met some people from the village there and they were very friendly and surprised to see us, because that’s not a place where tourists go or know about.
We climbed up the rock and then began going very steeply downhill through the jungle on a barely visible track. As neither Ta nor Jack had been there before, we all relied on Ta’s cousin and we walked on through the thicket. It was really tough going! Sometimes it was rocky, sometimes it was overgrown and sometimes just slippery mud and all the way really steeply down. I was hanging on to trees and vines and trying not to loose my balance while going over rocks and logs and roots. I tell you, you do work up a sweat doing that!
Finally, we got to a lovely waterfall, consisting of seven levels cascading down. It was beautiful. In the distance, you could see the Mekong shining in the sunlight and we were surrounded by trees and hilltops. We spent a long time there soaking up the athmosphere and enjoying the fresh clean air of the waterfall. We went down it further along some more big rocks to the bottom and then just sat and stared at the water - beautiful.
It then was time to go and when you go downhill, you inevitably will have to go uphill to get back home again... wow, it was hard! Not just becaue it was steep but also because the ground was quite diffiult to negotiate. I was very pleased when we made it and got to sit back down in the car to get back to Pakxe. It was quite late by then and we were all quite tired, so we spent the way listening to Lao pop music which was fun and then went for a beer! What a great conclusion to our time in Laos, as tomorrow morning, we will have to go to the airport early in the morning to catch our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We were very excited! Set off from Pakxe with Jack, the driver and Ta, our guide for the day. Both were really friendly and good fun and both of them spoke English very well, which meant we got to ask lots of questions!
First off, we went to a tea plantation and saw the trees, where they pick the Green Tea leaves from. The trees look really cute, they are quite small and you only pick the very young light green leaves for the tea. We watched the farmer there and his family at work and they are so fast! You have to pick it all by hand and of course you need to know which leaves are good for picking and which aren’t and their eyes are so trained, they are super fast at it. It’s hard work and their farm measured about 4 hectares which they worked as a family of about five or six people. We were told that every tree gets its leaves picked every 14 days and in between you have to maintain them of course and do the weeding and everything else that goes with it. Hard work!
We also saw how they then dry the leaves and roast them to develop the flavour and we got to try some of their freshly brewed tea – it was very nice! We also saw coffee plantations and you basically get two types grown in this region – arabica and robusta. Of the two, arabica fetches a better price and the trees are different to the robusta coffee trees. They are much smaller and the leaves are smaller too, but the coffee berries are much much bigger.
You can see this big old leafy tree and then when you look closer, you can see these massive big red berries hanging off them. These will be picked by hand, then put through a machine in order to get the seed out of each berry, which is then dried in the sun, then roasted and then becomes the coffee as we know it! Most of the coffee that Laos produces is for its own use, but also they export a lot to France. The coffee itself is very nice and it’s definitely worth trying if you ever get the chance.
After seeing the tea and coffee plantations, we made our way to see one of the famous waterfalls in the area. It’s called Tad Fane and it consists of two parallel streams thundering into a canyon some 200 metres below. The area is surrounded by jungle, cliffs and mountains and is absolutely spectacular! We spent a long time on the viewing platform across the gorge when Ta announced that we were going to take a short drive and then we would get to walk to the actual falls! We were very excited and began our trek through some really thick and dense undergrowth downhill. At times we couldn’t really see the track but we kept following Ta, swinging off some tree trunks and holding on to anything that would come in handy as the going was tough. We were then rewarded by arriving at the first of the two parallel waterfall streams, right at the top of it. We balanced over some stones and skipped across and then were standing right at the edge of the drop. It was truly high and scary and the water was just gushing along and then tumbling down the abyss! We peeked over the edge and you could see the ground so far down and it was so scary, I had to get down on my hands and knees to look, otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to stand up and not fall in! It’s a great big gorge or like a canyon, I don’t really know the right word for it, but it’s amazingly beautiful.
We clambered on to get to the second stream and of the two, it looked a much bigger stream and was more thundery on its way down. After some more fighting through undergrowth, we finally made it. WOW! What amazes me is how the water so casually flows along like a little river and then all of a sudden you have this massive bit of nothing. That’s it. Wheeeeeee and you’re down… it’s crazy really. Phil took some pictures over the edge and I was so scared for him and was grabbing his top and holding on to him, because I was convinced he’d trip or something similar and then that would be it. Thank God all went well.
After some more hard work, we made it out of the jungle and saw another waterfall – I forgot the name now, which was really lovely too but more of a tourist spot. As it wasn’t too hot, we decided we’d leave the swimming in ice cold water for another day! Ta looked relieved when we said we weren’t too fussed about going swimming, the poor man was shivering and was wearing a vest, a long sleeve thick flannel shirt and a jacket! Phil and I were in our shorts and t-shirts…
On to lunch, which was so delicious! We had some rice and an omelet with stir fried vegetables and we munched it all up followed by lovely fresh pineapple and banana. YumYum! We then went on the road again and this time, went a bit further afield in order to get to another beauty spot deep in the forest. En route, we picked up Ta’s cousin, who was local to the area there, so he could show us the way.
We first went to a great big rock, where we prayed at the shrine and saw the place where a monk has been living for 5 years. It’s the world’s smallest room with a mat and a pot in it by the side of the rock. That’s it. Man, it must be so cold!! We also met some people from the village there and they were very friendly and surprised to see us, because that’s not a place where tourists go or know about.
We climbed up the rock and then began going very steeply downhill through the jungle on a barely visible track. As neither Ta nor Jack had been there before, we all relied on Ta’s cousin and we walked on through the thicket. It was really tough going! Sometimes it was rocky, sometimes it was overgrown and sometimes just slippery mud and all the way really steeply down. I was hanging on to trees and vines and trying not to loose my balance while going over rocks and logs and roots. I tell you, you do work up a sweat doing that!
Finally, we got to a lovely waterfall, consisting of seven levels cascading down. It was beautiful. In the distance, you could see the Mekong shining in the sunlight and we were surrounded by trees and hilltops. We spent a long time there soaking up the athmosphere and enjoying the fresh clean air of the waterfall. We went down it further along some more big rocks to the bottom and then just sat and stared at the water - beautiful.
It then was time to go and when you go downhill, you inevitably will have to go uphill to get back home again... wow, it was hard! Not just becaue it was steep but also because the ground was quite diffiult to negotiate. I was very pleased when we made it and got to sit back down in the car to get back to Pakxe. It was quite late by then and we were all quite tired, so we spent the way listening to Lao pop music which was fun and then went for a beer! What a great conclusion to our time in Laos, as tomorrow morning, we will have to go to the airport early in the morning to catch our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
posted by Phil and Tanja @ 1:16 AM
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