Day 6, Monday 24 October - Champasak

Much ado about nothing!...... On the second full day in Champasak. I visit the small internet cafe in the main street to get news especially about the flooding in Bangkok. I need to decide soon when to get back. When I call in at the small tourist information centre it begins to dawn on me that Champasak has been in decline since the centre of administration was moved to Pakxe. A glance at the map confirms this town's isolation. Once an important riverside town with its ferry across the Mekong it's been upstaged by Pakse which with its Japanese bridge commands the road links north to Vientiane and to international destinations in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Highway 13 now occupies the eastern bank of the Mekong. A new road from Pakxe may raise this town's profile but it's a road to nowhere. Champasak's location on the Mekong should ensure its future as a tourist destination but here and now I just observe local people going about their daily lives. Some things never change. This is a great place for doing nothing!