After a night in Savannahket I arrived in Pakse which so far makes a nice impression. It certainly ain't as dead as Savannahket. I mean if cities can die then Savannakhet is the equivalent of a skeleton that has been dead for 150 years!

Pakse on the other hand is much more alive. But since I only have five more days on my visa I think I'll head down to Chapasak - and the huge Khmer temple that is there - tomorrow. The it's down to Si Phan Don (the 4,000 islands) and on March 2nd I'll go into Cambodia.

One of the best thing about Savannakhet was that on the bus I met two Swedish girls again whom I had already seen in Luang Prabang and Vientiane. At first I thought they were lesbians - probably because I have already met so many lesbian couples travelling on this trip - but apparently they are not. In the evening we went for a few beers on the Mekong with two French guys I knew from Vang Viang. So all in all it was a good day.

Btw: I read somewhere that there is only one bridge going over the Mekong river in all of Laos - in Vientiane. Well, obviously that is wrong. Because there is one in Pakse as well.

The guest houses I stayed in in Savannakhet and Pakse were both very nice.
In Savannakhet I stayed at the "Saisouk Guest House", in an truly excellent room for 3,5 Dollars. And tonight I'm sleeping at the "Sabadee 2" for 32,000 Kip. Both are clean and very friendly places.