small is beautiful

After an 8 hour bus trip, we land in Pakse. In the dark. Again. The tuktuk is waiting to take us to the town 7 km away. He wants 30,000 kip each ($5). I say, that is too much. OK, 20,000 each. They load our bags on. My dusty little suitcase among the enormous backpacks. We arrive in town. Motorcycles all around. The city map is unclear and it is too dark to read it. The hotel I am looking for has closed down. Across the street is a huge monstrosity. 3 floors. My room is big enough to fit a single bed and a tiny tv in the corner. I have to move the waste basket to the bathroom to put down my suitcase. A laminated painting of what look like Canadian geese flying over a tropical river covers the light switch to the bathroom. (Do Canadian geese fly to southeast Asia?) No window. Fan above the bed. 70,000 kip. ($9). I think I will look for another hotel tomorrow in the light.