January 25, 2015
Mostly picture of waterfalls: I don't want your money
The next morning I continued climbing and soon came to the first area of waterfalls, which are the main attraction of the Bolaven Plateau (at least for those that do not love coffee more than waterfalls.) I turned off towards Tad Fan, which, according to Lonely Planet, is the number one waterfall, and so I was very pleased to get there early before any of the tourists were awake. The fact that I was there before the ticket man was awake was, once again, just a coincidence. Honest! I had to walk through the Tad Fan Resort to get to a viewpoint of the very high falls, but they were a disappointment, because the sun was rising behind them and the light was all wrong. Still, at least they were free. The ticket man had arrived by the time I wandered back, but the ticket was only 5,000 kip and he didn't have enough change for my 50,000 kip note, and so I escaped without charge. Alan was delighted.
Next I went across the road and followed a lovely dirt trail through the coffee plantations for a few kilometres until I arrived at Tad Champee. The ticket man here was a little more on the ball and had come prepared with the required change, but the 5,000 kip asking price proved well worth it. I hadn't made it here before all the tourists this time, with a well-dressed and somewhat stylish French couple arriving by motorcycle at the same time as me. The man introduced himself as Nicola, which I always thought was a girls name, but apparently not in France, and the woman as Sandrine. They seemed nice, and we walked to the Falls together. The first sight we had of them, they looked spectacular. Nowhere near as high as Tad Fan, but dropping into a pool of water that looked like a little piece of paradise. To get down we had the choice of a very steep step ladder, or a gentle winding path. Naturally we chose the dangerous way.
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I really liked this place. There was a raft that was attached to a rope, and I sat on it and pulled on the rope, and the raft floated out across the pool of water towards the waterfalls. It was possible to go right up to the cascading water, and from just underneath it the power of the water was an awesome sight. I sat on that raft and looked around at the tropical foliage and the beautiful water, coming down in three separate falls, and I was very happy.
Next I walked around the edge of the pool, and it was possible to go all the way around behind the waterfalls, and see them from behind. This was fantastic. Then I had a little swim, although the water was icy cold. I really loved this place.
Nicola and Sandrine mostly just sat on a wooden bench and watched, although they did both eventually go out on the raft. We all liked this place a lot and stayed quite a while, and although a couple of other tourists came briefly, it was very peaceful and lovely. I talked for a bit with Nicola, and he spoke for a while about his job as a hotel porter in Cannes, during which my only contribution to the conversation was to say "It must get busy during the film festival." Then he asked me about my job, and I told him about pedicabbing in Edinburgh, and he asked me how much I could make.
"500 pounds a week?" he guessed.
"Yeah, about that," I said.
"You need that to live on these days" the Frenchman replied.
"Oh no I don't think so. I rented a cheap room for 45 pounds a week, spent about the same on food. Actually I only had to work for four months, and I saved enough to travel for two years."
"Yeah. 500 pounds. You need that to live on these days," he repeated, as if he hadn't heard me.
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This French couple were very nice and I enjoyed talking with Nicola. Sandrine spoke less English and I hadn't spoken to her so much. So it was a bit of a surprise when I was about to leave and she ran over to me and palmed 10,000 kip into my hand. Wow, I did not expect that. Nor did I want it. I tried very hard not to accept it, but she had slipped it into my hand like an aunt giving money to a small child and now she steadfastly refused to take it back. Frankly I was insulted. In fact I don't think I could have been more insulted if she had come over to me and shook my cheek and said "look at you, you poor little poor person." I did not want or need handouts. She was barely any older than me. So what if I live in a tent and travel by bike and have a hole in my shoe? I'm a 30-year-old man, not a charity case. I wanted to throw her stupid money back at her but obviously she was trying to be nice, and one of us had already been offended, there was no need for us both to be, so I took the money and left.
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This rankled with me for quite a while. Being a 30-year-old man and being financially independent I did not want such handouts. Of course I accept gifts of food and things from people sometimes, and I also offer such things to people sometimes. But money is so impersonal, and the way she gave it to me was so insulting, it felt as if she thought she was better than me. It really ruined the whole morning. I mean, I can work for four months and travel for two years, surely I'm the last person in the world who needs to be given money for nothing. Honestly, I should have been donating money to their cause, what with all the hotels and motorcycle rental fees and return flights and Lonely Planets they must have to pay for. Anyway, having come so far entirely on my own back I wasn't going to start using someone else's money now , so I left the offending 10,000 kip note somewhere by a poor-looking village and hoped that 1) someone more appreciative would find it and 2) it wouldn't end up as a donation to the Beer Lao Brewing Company.
And you can imagine the abuse I got from 'you-know-who' about that.
By the time I'd got to Paksong I'd calmed down, although I was sweating buckets from the heat on the final steep climb up. 'Pretty warm five degrees' I thought to myself, as I stood in the shade in my shorts and t-shirt licking my ice cream. After Paksong, which was a nothing little town, the road got flatter as I was now on top of the Bolaven Plateau. I took a turn off on a sandy road that the French couple told me about that led to a couple more waterfalls. It was a really sandy road in fact, and every time a vehicle passed I got covered in dust. There was real poverty here too, with little kids walking about in torn and dusty clothes. They weren't half pleased to see me though.
I stopped in an empty quarry place that seemed like it might be good to camp for the night, until a man came along with a rifle held across his shoulder blades. So I went on further, and saw the turn off for the next waterfall, Tad Alone. And a few hundred metres I came to it, and I did feel a tad alone, as there was no one else around. There was also a very nice patch of ground next to the waterfall, perfect for a tent, and so I took wild camping to a whole new level of awesome.
Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 36,269 km (22,523 miles)
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