Champasak Palace is something more than a hotel, it was built by a local prince in the 50s in order to make it its residence. Something got wrong with the revolution and, forced to flee to France, he had to leave the building unaccomplished. So it became a hotel, clinging on a little hill overlooking the city, every room is like a small apartment and the one where I wake up, on the fourth floor, is lighted by that glowing sun that follows a rainy night. The monsoon has come, it is seasonal in the end.
Me and Katia were waiting for it for days. “the Monsoon”, we heard so much about it, we were almost scared, but on the Thai beaches it spared us (luckily), instead here it comes in order to water the as-far-as-the-eye-can-see rice fields and to delight us with little drops on our heads, the eastern baptize we strongly needed. Breakfast is based on fragrant local coffee, product of biological agriculture right from the nearby Bolaven plateau, a mix of wild fertile and generous land that we will discover in a couple of days. For the moment we focus on Mekong that still has to offer a lot. I am prepared to give in return whatever it asks in order to be discovered. We set forth towards north, by bus, straight to Pha Pheng waterfall, the biggest waterfall on Mekong, so-called Niagara of East, which can be admired from a nice spot.
A wall of water falling down for 35 meters, stretching out on a hill ridge for a kilometer and a half, it’s definitely stunning. As impressive is the natural painting board created by the green of trees, the blue of the sky and the brown of waters fading out in the white foam. Rocks, meanders islets, appearing and disappearing under the roar of waters, call to be discovered, but it’s time to go, our guide Saa says, a very nice short man willing to show he masters three languages and that English, French and Russian do not have secrets for him.
Laotian lunches, as any dinner that will follow, can be described under the recurring and common word of “delicious”, in fact the recurring word is Kwao Niawo, the glutinous rice, basic food to be coupled with the millions of possible combinations, fish, meat, vegetables, spices and sauces. The tiny restaurant on the river where we enjoy it is in authentic local style and the launch waiting for us on the water surface right under the pile dwelling of the restaurant let us foresee a nice forthcoming afternoon.
This long and speedy tiny boat will make us reach the cruising boat for sunset. Yet, before that there is still some time to penetrate in that magic net of islets in the river known as the region of “four thousands islands”. Every little island looks like a world aside, magically organized around one or more villages according to the size and each showing either common features or others absolutely peculiar. Here you can admire the very interesting colonial relics from the times of the French presence in Indochina.
The railroad crossing these islands allowed carrying the new boats from the lowest part of Mekong until the most northern spot. They were transported, dismantled and, once arrived at destination, reassembled because some waterfalls in the region of “four thousands islands” prevent either going up or navigating Mekong. Besides the colonial relics lie the actual villages and it is clear how here society has managed to develop an autonomous path without suffering from the colonial age neither a negative influence nor a crushing subjection.
With this mix of cultures in the eyes, but with the delight of seeing the pre and post colonial cultures prevailing, we set forth again sailing fast on Mekong, on the opposite direction this time, towards south, following the river’s waves. The Monsoon tries to slap the launch and its guests, but the vision of Vat Phou boat waiting for us on the pier by the river while the sun sets and the bonzes start praying in the temple, feels like an extremely light stroke.
Kindly Traslated by “Alessandra Angius”
Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7
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