Paksong is town in the middle of the Bolaven Plateu with some cool resorts to stay at. The town is close to a lot of natural attractions such as rivers and waterfalls. The plateau is very fertile and there are lots of crops growing, especially coffee.
My ride from Attapeu to Paksong started out with a long stretch of back-tracking. The condition of the road was good and the traffic was light and I made it to the turn-off pretty quickly.
From below, the plateau is pretty imposing. I was afraid that my scooter might struggle with the climb. Luckily the climb up wasn't too steep and my scooter went up it like a champ.
When passing homes, I would frequently see dead animals laid or hung out for sale. This was the first porcupine that I saw so I had to turn around and get a photo. At this house there were also some dead chickens hung up. I didn't see any people around. My guess is that buyers just yell until someone comes out to haggle over a price.
Turning towards the plateau, the roads were clear but you still had to keep an eye out for livestock.
My photo folder for this day has a bunch of photos of these trees. At first I couldn't figure out what I was trying to capture.
Then I found this photo with a person for scale. I guess I impressed by how tall the trees were. Now that I live in a place with tall trees, the photos aren't very impressive.
On the way to Paksong, I stopped at a waterfall. I didn't get very close because I didn't want to leave my stuff unattended and I was feeling lazy.
Further down the road, I spotted this bridge. I'm pretty sure it used to be a railroad track. My guess is that it was covered with dirt so that it can be used by livestock.
This ivy-covered tree with flowers was pretty cool. The photo didn't turn out great, but it was cool to see.
On the plateau, I started seeing more homes and more crops.
School was getting out when I drove by. The kids were always quick to yell "Sabaidee!" (hello!) at me.
Kids everywhere seem to be pretty happy to see travelers. In Vietnam the kids were always quick to practice their English and yell out "Hello! What's your name?".
Eventually I made it to Paksong. I found a really cool and huge resort-looking place and got a room. If I remember correctly, I was the only guest there.
The grounds were beautiful and covered with some really impressive plants.
In my room I spotted these giant black ants. The picture looks like it could be of a headboard, but I'm pretty confident that the ants weren't in the bedroom. I would have remembered sleeping with these ants.
Instead of being pissed (as I would have been if they were in the bed), I was more intrigued. The ants were carrying larva. I wonder if the larva belonged to this group of ants and they were moving to a new home. Or did the larva belong to enemies and these ants were grabbing some lunch to bring back to their home.
After getting a meal and some beer, I went to bed. I don't have many memories from Paksong. I don't know if that means that the town was boring or if it means I drank a lot that night.
I'm a little burned out from work today and it's hard for me to come up with things to say so I'll just end the post here.
Tomorrow I'll continue exploring the Bolaven Plateau and I hope you'll join me!
