4 waterfalls and drenched to the bone

I took a day trip to see the coffee and tea plantations on the Bolovent plateau around the Champsak, Pakse area. This was a great idea when I booked the day before on a sunny and hot day. This particular day it was raining and miserable and looked only to get worse as a tuk tuk pulled up to take all 7 passengers on the day trip.
Okay, this particular tuk tuk is the size of a mini ute and not as small as those in Thailand but the comfort ratio is still low in the back of these little monsters. Off we set at about 8:30 am zipping down the freeway roads passing cows, chickens, water buffalo and the occasional over sized and over laden motorcycle. Eventually we arrived to our first destination, a waterfall, in a rather heavy down pour. Luckily it only took a few minutes to reach the actually fall but the sight was rather disappointing to say the least . It was so misty and foggy we actually could only hear the water falling and not see it falling. So a little damp, we piled back on to the tuk tuk and headed to waterfall number two. Fingers were crossed that we could lay our eyes on some cascading water. On our arrival we were told it was a nice relaxing 2 kilometer walk to the fall. I'm sure normally it is but in a torrential down pour things were a little different. We slipped and slid our way through ankle deep mud, tire track made rivers and mini land slides. We took our life in to our own hands trying to absail down the stairs to the look out. When we arrived we were mud splattered and soaked through but I'd have to say the view was rather impressive. Our guide decided this was a good place to stop for lunch and perhaps dry ourselves out a little under the dry safety of a hut. We had the pleasure to try the local specialty of bamboo soup but the pressure was definitely not mine. It was putrid.
Back on the Tuk Tuk and a few coffee and tea plantations later, we arrived at a local market. I was thoroughly frozen through and was still wet down to my underwear. We walked around looking at the most disgusting food items and had a mozie around in the brick-a-brack section. It was as if none of us had been to a local market and our guide was making a fuss of the goings on. I was just cold and toiling with the idea of buying a jumper. Not a chance. Back on the Tuk Tuk and we were heading to yet another water fall. I was starting to get the picture and the waterfall scene was starting to wear thin. Eventually, after seeing the third waterfall, we visited a few local villages. There were kids there that were around the ages of 3 smoking these huge bong styled bamboo pipes filled with home grown tobacco. I was dumb founded! Apparently the village people live to ripe old ages considering they start smoking from such a young age. The village was a little incestual for my liking and seemed like a breeding ground of grime and germs. It was the first time I really didn't want to interact with the snotty nosed kids! I also witnessed a disturbing sight which without too many details involved and Grandmother, a baby and a dog. Basically the Grandmother was allowing the dog to clean particular areas of the baby that only a soft wipe should go.
I wanted out of this incestual little place and rather quickly. I was feeling very sick to my stomach.
The last village was more of a shopping " Buy our handicrafts" kinda place that I really had no interest in and I was really just looking forward to getting back home for a hot shower. But wait. What about the 4 the waterfall. Just when we all thought that perhaps there really wasn't enough light left in the day and we were being saved....We were whisked off to the last and final waterfall. A cascade really.
At around 6:30 that evening we were eventually let off the Tuk Tuk and free to return to our guest houses for a hot shower. Thank god. I thought that time was never going to come!

I eventually made it home and Kirks day hadn't been much better. She went off to visit the Angkor styled Watt Phu Champasak and had a lot of difficulty doing so. After sitting in the back of a stationary bus for 2 hours she finally arrived at her destination 45 minutes down the road. Had a good scout around and went back to the pick up point only to find that there was no one to take her back to Pakse. Apparently she would have to wait till morning. This prospect was not what Kirk was hoping for. Considering I would think she was dead on the side of the road somewhere and she was wet and freezing too. luckily some kind hearted Aussie boys took her back in their privately charted Tuk Tuk so she wouldn't have to camp out on the side of the road for a night like a homeless idiot.
By the time I finally got back from my trip Kirk had swiftly decided to return to Vientiane and head to the North of Laos. This meant I was going to be travel companion-less and on my own again. Both sad we parted ways. Probably better for her really. Because after sad news that my 18 year old cat had been put to sleep and being frozen to the seat of a Tuk Tuk for 10 hours I came down with the Flu..