Lolo's Travels

Hi everyone!  

       ******welcome, welcome to miss mel!!!   also congrats to mel (and addie!!) on the new lil baby you're brewing...!  so excited to meet him or her...******

   just had to get that in there.

So.....Don Det.  My very last stop in Laos, and wonderful.  In the very south of the country, where the Mekong river fans out and there are thousands of islands.   The name of the area, Si Phan Don, literally means Four Thousand Islands.   I can sum it up with the words hammocks and sunsets, for sure.  You get a bungalow overlooking the mekong, either on the sunRISE or sunSET side, for about $1-2/night.  Complete with hammock and front porch, you're kinda obligated to chill out a bit!

    Which, after my last bus ride, was definately needed.    Actually, the bus from Vientiane wasn't so bad.  Double decker, all bright colours and lights, a/c, and dinner....although it was overnight, it went by really quickly.   I made the trip with a couple of people I'd met in Vientiane, which was also great.  Always nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of.  When the bus drops you off, you have to walk to the riverbank, and pay $1 for a wooden 'ferry' across to the main island, Muan Khong.....lots of restaurants hanging over the water, and I shared a room in a restored French teak mansion with another girl for $3 each.   The next day, another wooden (skinny and scary!) boat took us to see the biggest waterfall in all of Asia.   Sounds great, til you realize its judged by volume, not height.  Cool, but not as impressive as it'd sounded.   But once we were dropped off at Don Det, all was forgotten.  Literally hundreds of bungalows, and lots of restaurants with decks overhanging the river for watching the sunrise or set.  I think, out of 4 days there, I spend about 40% of my time at the Sunset bar, eating yummy papaya salad and drinking coconut shakes.  Oh, and dad ~ I tried mangosteen, and its delicious.  Just not enough fruit inside though, you would need to eat like 20 to feel satisfied.  I think Queen Victoria once offered a fortune to anyone who could bring her some back unspoiled....its that good.

       Two days ago I learned something about myself...I have a debilitating fear of heights.  Or maybe, its a fear of falling.  Either way, I tried rock-climbing in Laos...and let me just say I'm now stubbornly determined to learn how to climb properly.  I could NOT for the life of me handle it.  The first person was lowered over the edge....you have to rappel (sp????) down the cliff face before you can climb it.....and the panic literally rose in my throat.  You are basically harnessed in, and then stand with your back to the edge, and lean back til you are parallell with the ground...and 'walk' down the cliff.  I couldn't do it.   I had to climb down, then climb up...etc.  I was in tears twice, clinging to the rock face...duh.  Felt like an idiot but I'm somehow strangely proud that I climbed all three rock faces.....4, 7, and 10 metres.  And am now dying to find a climbing gym and conquer this fear!

             Don Det...strange island.  Nothing to do really, you can rent bikes and tour around, there are water buffalo and pigs and cows and chickens everywhere, as well as villagers....the guesthouses (bungalows) have been built by farmers in the area, so they are all still hard at work as we (foreigners) lounge about lazily.

       The french built one railway line in all of Laos, and its in Si Phan Don...connecting Don Det to an island called Don Khong.  You can see an old rusty french steam engine, and you cycle over the old railway bridge.  When we crossed, all the kids were coming home from school in their little white blouses and blue skirts or trousers...so sweet.  Often riding bikes about 1000x too big for them, and often 3 to a bike.  They all want their pictures taken and all want to see the pix afterwards! 

       If you hang out in one spot (any spot - he comes to you!) around 4pm in Don Det, theres a guy who comes around on his bike with a huge tray of sugar doughnuts....dusted with sugar, and filled with chunks of banana and chocolate...amazing.  When your diet consists of pineapple, rice, and curry veg, you start to crave these quickly.  This doughnut guy is ALWAYS well received.  I bought 3 last night, meaning to save them for the trip to Cambodia...ya right!

          So...Cambodia.   Crossing the border from Laos is quite the experience.  Its not an ''official" border crossing, which as far as I can tell, just means they feel free to gouge you.   It costs $1 to leave Laos, and then the Cambodian officials demand $5 for a passport stamp.   Hannah and I (the girl I'm travelling with) stood our ground, and ended up paying only $3.  But really, they should charge nothing.  I've already paid about $50 for my visa....so why another fee??  Sheesh.

         Once we were across the Mekong and in Cambodia, we had lunch and changed some dollars into riel....about 4000riel=$1USD.   Then came the next hassle.  We had paid $18 each for an air-con minibus to Kratie....and the 5 of us were presented with a beat up toyota Camry, meant to transport the five of us, a police officer, and the driver.  Well, we did it.  Four in the back seat, me in the front, and TWO in the drivers seat.  TWO!!!!!!!

          I took a gravol, loaded everyones daypacks on my lap to make some more room in the back, and tried to pass out for the 3 hour trip.  Before I thankfully fell asleep, I saw 2 or 3 trucks or buses go by with bags and people loaded up on top, as the interior was already jam packed.  Our driver leaned on the horn whenever he wanted to pass someone, which was all the time, or if there was an animal in the road (ALL the time!) or really, whenever he felt like it.  The roads are orange dust and bumpier than I'd have thought possible.  When we finally arrived in Kratie, Hannah and I sought out a hotel that had been referred to me and RAN to the showers.  So much dirt!!!!  And, wonder of wonders, there is HBO in our room, and "Troy"is playing tonight.  Brad Pitt will do.   

          Dinner was another veg curry at a great restaurant/bookshop, where I found some new books.....the next few days will be great.  Still deciding whether or not to book a tour to see the Mekong river dolphins tomorrow....costs about $10 so I"m not sure if its worth it, but they're endangered...so feels like I should go??

         Anyways, Brad is on in about 5min, so I've gotta run!   Hope everyone is great, keep the emails coming with whats happing Canada side....I miss you all!

lots of love,

xoxo Laura