Woke up and headed into Kratie to purchase tickets for the big bus heading to Ban Lung.
Caught the bus (which was an hour late) and headed off. After about 10 minutes we stopped for lunch! Not sure exactly what we ate but it tasted good though contained a lot of interesting looking bones.
The road deteriorated to a dusty track and it started to pour with rain. 5 hours later we arrived at our destination.... in the dark.
To say we were mobbed by touts as soon as we got off the bus is an understatement! We looked around and all we could see was a few little shacks. Was this it? Ok, it looked pretty small but it was supposed to have great trekking. However, the touts soon put us straight. We were 3km outside of town, at the bus station. Each would give us a free lift to the town or to the lake if we stayed at 'their' hotel. We eventually headed to the lake with a young girl who spoke great English. She agreed we could have a room at her hotel for the same price as the guy next to her was charging. We arrived at the hotel by the lake and she revealed the room! Wow! Big, clean, very luxurious and worth 10 times what we had agreed to pay. What's the catch?
Not sure yet, but they sell lots of different tours from the hotel which are a little expensive.....which they may push our way!
Caught the bus (which was an hour late) and headed off. After about 10 minutes we stopped for lunch! Not sure exactly what we ate but it tasted good though contained a lot of interesting looking bones.
The road deteriorated to a dusty track and it started to pour with rain. 5 hours later we arrived at our destination.... in the dark.
To say we were mobbed by touts as soon as we got off the bus is an understatement! We looked around and all we could see was a few little shacks. Was this it? Ok, it looked pretty small but it was supposed to have great trekking. However, the touts soon put us straight. We were 3km outside of town, at the bus station. Each would give us a free lift to the town or to the lake if we stayed at 'their' hotel. We eventually headed to the lake with a young girl who spoke great English. She agreed we could have a room at her hotel for the same price as the guy next to her was charging. We arrived at the hotel by the lake and she revealed the room! Wow! Big, clean, very luxurious and worth 10 times what we had agreed to pay. What's the catch?
Not sure yet, but they sell lots of different tours from the hotel which are a little expensive.....which they may push our way!
