hearsay

after a long bumpy bus ride (somehow our seats weren't actually bolted to the floor) we arrived in Pakse and took a motorcycle out with Cyril and Gabriel (two travelers we had met on the bus) to see waterfalls in the surrounding countryside. Forty km out of the city, we walked along the path to the first waterfall. Before even managing to get a glimpse of the waterfall (but close enough to hear it) I somehow rolled over my ankle, heard a pop and felt excruciating pain. My ankle then proceeded to swell like I was hiding a tennis ball/s in my sock. Though we bash the LP, it finally came in handy (translations in the back) when Ari and Gabriel went to get ice from the nearby restaurant. So as I sat icing my ankle Ari, Cyril and Gabriel continued on to actually see the waterfall.

As told to me by Ari, Cyril and Gabriel (I may paraphrase slightly):
"Trekking upstream and navigating the treacherous terrain of the forest we hurdled over boulders and plummeted down steep cliffs. We fought off the deadly untamed beasts native to Laos to catch a glimpse of the legendary waterfall."

- it's what's for dinner -

"After we successfully defeated the four legged creature we hiked through the densest part of the forest pulling off piranhas and man-sized leeches from our ankles and stood in awe of the mammoth waterfall that stood before us."

"The sheer power of the falls could have been a thousand times that of the Niagara falls and we shuddered at the thought of being trapped in the tumultuous whirlpools below. After thoroughly exploring the surrounding area we fought our way back to the safety of this clearing."

Tired from their adventure, we stopped at the restaurant for ice coffees. With a little gesturing very similar to a game of charades, the waitress brought out four bags of ice (identical to the one that was on my ankle) and a look on her face that could only express "crazy foreigners".

Ari then carried me to the parking lot where we headed off to a second waterfall - as recounted to me "much bigger and not for the faint at heart"

In keeping with the family friendly nature of this blog, I won't elaborate on the details of their harrowing adventure but the waterfall and surrounding scenery were "pretty beautiful" said Ari.


Anyway, after a long day we headed back to town and planned a nice relaxing end to our Laos adventures on the island of Don Det.