Motorcycle diaries - Part 1

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Becks' diary - Pakse to Tat Lo

We set off feeling like Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boarman (with fewer cc!) - bikes loaded up, all set for the road. The traffic out of Pakse is heavy, not helped by the fact that whistling policemen take the place of traffic lights.

We're soon out on clear open roads and howdied by a group on Harleys (yes - overtaking us!). A few kilometers further on and we start to understand why people do this, what it's really all about. The road stretches out to the horizon and for miles we only pass a few horses, pigs and chickens. These last two have no road sense and we narrowly avoiding killing dinner a few times along the way.

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Signs by this point are mostly in Laos script so we rely on our odometers to tell us where to turn. Stopping to check directions in a tiny village the man we ask comes out with perfect English - a first in Laos and where we least expect it.

The road to Tat Lo is paved and we make the 90kms there in no time (after a couple of diversions following the wrong directions from locals - think our Laos pronunciation needs practice!).

Tat Lo is a tiny village where a few guesthouses have sprouted up in the woods surrounding a waterfall. OUr guesthouse looks out onto the falls and is the perfect place for a drink as the sun goes down. The place is beautifuland has a wonderfully laid back atmosphere; we decide to while away a couple of days here.

Peth in the Kathu village.
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The next morning we are up early to go trekking with a local guide. Up through Tat Lo village past two waterfalls the path climbs thorugh the woods and we emerge in another village. Peth, our guide, tells us this is a village of the Nge tribe. The layout is different to your average Laos village, with the houses on stilts built around the "village hall" - again on stilts, in the. Peth shows us the buffalo horns hung up around the inside - remnants of the annual buffalo sacrifice to ward off evil spirits.

Not another waterfall!
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Locals sit int he shade chatting, pounding chilles, picking cardamon and the kids shout and wave frantically.

We head out of the village along narrow paths through paddy fields where tabacco and chilles grow wild. The locals smoke the tobacco cut up, dried and rolled in banana leaf and it's not uncommon to see women working in the fields or sitting at a market smoking a fat banana leaf cigar.

After passing thorugh another village we arrive at the view point for the 100m high Tat Suong falls. Very little water is flowing over them and our guide explains that a local hydroelectric plant releases water from a dam further up at 9pm. When Ben and I ehad up to the top of the falls on a motorbike later looking voer the cliff below we understand why you wouldn't want to be around when the release happens.

The last village we come to is a Katu tribe village. Again arranged in a circle this time we notice wooden coffins stacked beneath houses. Apparently they build coffins for living members of the family and store them this way until they're needed. The village seems overrun with tiny puppies and newborn piglets... cute! The local kids take a shining to Ben's watch and follow him around, grabbing onto his wrist as we go.

A long wlak back to Tat Lo through woods and locals carrying recent harvests.

Good dinner of Laos salad (think salad with egg, nuts and peanutty dressing), more sticky rice and curry with more Beerlao.