Stories of Places, People and Photography in the Philippines and Beyond
It was already late in the afternoon when we started our way back from Balobok Cave. Our 4×4 vehicle roared through the uneven terrain of Barangay Lakit-lakit. On our right the sun was also racing down by far by the sea horizon. We passed by a nice stretch of beach they called Pasiagan. This is where Christian Bautista shot the music video of “Tawi-tawi Beach”. When we reached Sanga-sanga, we stopped by a small quaint village by the sea.
My next destination in Southern Laos was one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country, the khmer ruins of Wat Phu Champasak. But like Bolaven Plateau, the site is at least an hour away, 46km from Pakse going south. It was still dark when I left my inn to head to Dao Heueng Market, where most of the transportation heading in and out of Pakse originates. I was planning to take the public transport this time but what worried me was my way back since I had to catch my 8pm bus ride to Vientiane that night.
I’ve always noticed that some locals of some destination I’ve visited haven’t been around much their own place. I must admit, that when we talk of Manila, even if I’m a resident, I haven’t been around that much to explore it. Blame it on the heat or the traffic I guess but there’s more to Manila beyond the crazy traffic. When I was in Laos, I overheard one foreigner voice chatting in Skype that he’ll never go back in Manila. This made me think what could have given him a bad impression or experience.
Another day started when we found ourselves on the top of Bongao Capitol enjoying the breath taking views. After, we sampled local delicacies at one of their coffeeshops at the town center for breakfast. Fast forward, we checked out Hotel Juanita and made another attempt as Simunul but Kit wasn’t really comfortable of letting us go along with strangers so we just accepted an invite to witness a Muslim pre-wedding ceremony of Pamutong. After which we were told, the tourism people would take us to one important site not only in Tawi-tawi but in the whole South East Asia, the Balobok Rock Shelter.
Just a short walk from Pa Suam Falls, is an ethnic village where we found a community of Laven Tribe. The Laven Tribe is the most predominant tribe in Southern Laos. Bolaven Plateau actually came from the name Bolaven which means “Home of the Laven”. Before, when people say Laos, the first picture that comes to mind for me are monks and temples. So I’m glad to be able to interact with some indigenous tribes in Laos as well.
We were supposed to go to Simunul Island that afternoon, but around noon we were still making our way down Bud Bongao. We didn’t expect that the muddy and sticky trail would slow us down. They already texted us that our host for Simunul was already waiting at the Chinese Pier. After having lunch and checking out Beachside Inn, we sped through town and headed for the old pier where we met Kit. But we didn’t manage to catch our host.
After kick starting our day with a spicy breakfast of Foe noodles, we finally made our way to Bolaven Plateau. About 50km from Pakse, Bolaven Plateau is at the North Eastern province of Champasak located up to 1300 meters above sea level. With the cool climate, abundant rainfall, rich volcanic soil, it has been world reknown for its coffee. I’m not there for the coffee though but for the number of waterfalls found in the area.
