Day 5: Savannakhet to Pakse

So seeing as that we had done everything that there was possible to do in Savannakhet the day before we decided to get the hell out of dodge and move on to our next location of Pakse which is further south. We were told that in the morning there would be Dragon Boat races early in the morning at 8 along the river. So we thought we would watch those for a while and then catch the 10:30 bus to Pakse.

Dragon Boats. They actually weren't racing at 8, there was one boat practicing. 

Street markets just beginning to set up.

We wandered the streets looking for breakfast. 

Looking at the Lonely Planet while eating breakfast trying to figure out the best way to get across the Laos Cambodia boarder.  

The bus ride to Paske.

On the bus to Pakse, at every stop women would come on to the bus to sell food, chicken on a stick, green mango, pork on a stick, crickets on a stick and fermented chicken embryo eggs were all options. I got nothing. 

We arrived in Pakse just in time for the parade.

Monks setting up for the lantern lighting later tonight. 

This picture fails to capture the effect of the lateens, but it was awesome

People lighting lantern. We did one too, it was a struggle, I burnt my thumb and it provided endless entertainment to the locals.

Our Lantern! We picked a red one.

Also during this day I had one of the itchiest experiences of life. The night before I was eaten alive by bug and no matter how much mental power or after bite was used it was still super annoying. My legs were covered with bites. Luckily no Malaria was contracted!