I spent the day cycling along the Mekong now finally in Cambodia. The people are just as friendly, the river wider and miracle of miracles 15km up the road from Kratie there are sweet water dolphins.
They were beautiful and they were free and every glimpse we had of them was an absolute gift. It’s funny the things that end up being important when you travel for a while. I couldn’t care less about what I look like. I am caked in mud from top to bottom and nothing I wear matches except that I tried as much as possible when I packed to have similar kind of clothes. The back of my legs is constantly splattered in mud from walking in puddles in the rain with flip-flops and you spend the entire day drenched either from the sweat or from the rain. The rooms you sleep in are basic at best. Happiness is not seeing any cockroaches and a bug or two in your soup never spoils your appetite.
This is what happiness is. Total freedom; from everything. Freedom from convention, from proprieties, from timetables, from comfort, from not having to speak to anyone if you don’t want to and choosing to hook up with people if you do. It’s bicycle riding in the rain with no further worry than to spot the next big torrent and anticipate it long enough to hide in barns, haystacks, porches and big glorious trees. It’s changing your plans just because you feel like it and even better not having any plan at all. It’s going with the flow at all times and being open to situations and circumstances. It’s waving at people with the same enthusiasm in which they yell hello.
I like the rainy season. It makes life messy and joyous. It makes you take detours and end up in unexpected places. It equalizes everyone. And you know what else? It seems to make the dolphins very very happy.
