18. Nov 15th Tad Fan Waterfall and Bolaven Plateau Jeep Tour
Today the itinerary has us down for a Jeep tour. We have a leisurely breakfast at the restaurant and check out some more of the grounds.
Our hotel unit. We have the top floor of this building.
Breakfast is on the upper terrace. It has a great view of the Mekong River. I have a couple of eggs, toast, fruit and a cappuccino. And then were off on more adventures.
We head down to the hotel’s boat launch and take a water taxi boat to go to the other side of the Mekong. The River hotel where we are staying is located on the west side of the Mekong River at Champasak and our destination is on the other side of the river. Although theres’s an option is to drive across using the bridge, the water taxi is way more adventurous. We get in the water taxi and head south to clear a small island in the middle of the river. We round the tip and head across to Muang, the small village on the other side of the river from Champasak. The village used to be very busy before the bridge was built as it was the east terminus of the water taxis going to the other side. There was even a small car ferry that could take cars over. It still operates, and in fact, was being repaired when we arrived at Muang.
Heading out to cross the Mekong.
When we get to the shore at Muang, the water taxi just comes up onto the sandy beach and we step off.
The single car ferry that goes from shore to shore on the Mekong. The logs were going to be used to make repairs to the ship. I thought it didn’t look stable enough to take a vehicle across.
We meet up with our driver at Muang and pile into the van for the trip north towards the Bolaven Plateau. It’s higher in elevation so should be cooler than in the valley today. On our way we are stopping at the Tad Fane Waterfall just over an hour away. This is a twin waterfall where two rivers create separate waterfalls down a deep gorge in Dong Hua Soa National Park. The height of the falls is 100 metres, almost twice the height of Niagara Falls. The only problem with the design of the park is that you can’t see the bottom of the gorge from any of the look out points.
There is a zip line company that operates at the falls. I’m tempted…
We walk along the falls to get other views of the falls and come across this picture taking platform…I hope it wasn’t designed as a lover’s leap.
We get back into the car and drive to a small village outside of Paksong. Here we transfer into another vehicle, a 1960’s era Chinese made Jeep.
We don face masks for some reason other than preventing germs. This time the masks are being used to reduce the amount of dust we breathe.
The ride is fun. We’re not going super fast, but there are ruts in the road that send the Jeep lurching every which way.
Sample ride in video. It’s dusty for a lot of it. And it’s kind of like riding a mechanical bull for 60 minutes. But we have a great time.
The ride takes us through various coffee plantations. Its harvest season, and most of the beans are red in colour indicating they’re ripe. We also go past failed coffee fields where the owners didn’t know enough before planting their crops. There are other fields of crops including cassava and tobacco.
At some point we stop to see Tad Moan waterfall. The Jeep used to drive up closer to the falls but a few years back, the roads got washed out. These roads were put in place by American troops who operated a secret base in the area. We needed to walk in the rest of the way because we can no longer drive in. Judith elects not to go, so Pheng and I set out to find the waterfall. I think it’s a super cool place. It’s an excellent swimming hole, with very few people knowing about it, let alone using it. I think it’s only accessible by 4x4 or walking in.
Pheng said that he and his pals have come camping here and really enjoy it.
Back into the Jeep and we tour more backroads. The front windshield is covered with red dirt dust and I can’t believe he can see through it. We pass through narrow roads with yellow flowers and it’s really fun. We drive through small streams and eventually come to a coffee farm, Mystic Mountain, belonging to Kum Song.
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We make our introductions before we have lunch. Kum Song had visited Canada many years ago. A Catholic, he was sponsored to go to Vancouver Island and then got the opportunity to see the Pope when he came to Toronto in 1984. He came back to Laos and sometime later decided to become a coffee farmer. He provides farm tours and home stays for tourists. We’re here for lunch and to get a tour of his coffee and farm operations.
Lunch was served up and was very tasty. Many of the vegetables came form his garden and were very fresh. Judith ate all the cucumbers on the salad plate. Pumpkin soup was served. I have seen Kabocha squash in the Laos local markets and wonder if this is what they are referring to as pumpkin. The soup is really good. We are joined by a Danish traveller, Marin, or something like that, who is in Laos for 3 weeks and is home staying at Mystic Mountain overnight.
After lunch we have a tour of the farm. Kum Song has basically started from scratch many years ago. The first thing he did was to bring some coffee beans that had been drying in the sun. He’s going to show us how he roasts these grey looking beans. We walk through his vegetable and fruit patch and he shows us some of his specialty plants, including cinnamon, apples and mangos.
Self built coffee roaster. The drum turned via an electric motor and roaster part operated via two propane burners.
While the coffee was roasting we toured other parts of coffee plantation including the chickens and pigs. The coffee bean groves were extensive and the final round of coffee bean picking was being completed where all of the beans are harvested instead of just the ripe ones. I picked some coffee beans and put them in one of the worker’s basket. It didn’t make any discernible difference to the amount in her basket making me realize just how long you would need to be picking to fill that basket. We went up to the top of the view hill, to see the views.
View from the lookout. Kam Song planted over 200 Acacia trees to provide shade for the coffee plants. Without the shade, the plans could not survive the direct sun.
We come back down the hill and get back to the coffee roaster. The beans are now ready so he turns off the burner and opens up the roaster to cool down the beans. It smells so great. Once cooled a bit, the beans are poured into a bamboo tray and carried back to the house. On the way, it begins to rain. The umbrellas we were all carrying get used especially the one over the coffee beans.
Kam Song bags up the coffee and gives some to Judith and I. Nest is a tour of this village which is about 15 minutes away. We get into our Chinese jeep, and they get into a Russian jeep from the World War II era. It’s about 80 years old. Fortunately it’s stopped raining.
Russian jeep circa WWII.
The village tour is interesting. One of the villagers uses an older Russian made truck for their farm needs. Only the frame is Russian. The engine has been swapped out for a Chinese one and the back deck and cockpit area have been swapped in from Laos sources.
A multicultural truck.
It’s time to go back to the hotel and we retrace our steps. We load back into the jeep and ride that mechanical bull for 45 minutes until we’re back to meet our van driver at the village. Our driver takes us back for the hour or so drive back to Muang. The we load back onto the water taxi and take it back to the hotel. It’s dark out and Pheng shines his little flashlight so we can see where we’re going and so that others don’t run into us. I don’t know if there are rules about running lights on your boat or not.
It’s been another great day.
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