I am now sitting in an internet cafe on Don Det - one of the 4000 islands. I thought it was going to be a place where you can swim in pristine waters... and then I re-read the guide book which says that post monsoon, at least from Sep - Dec the waters are all churned up with mud which means that it would be nicer to swim in a sewer! Great!!! So all around is brown water and you cannot swim anywhere.
There are really nice rice fields though - I have a bungalo which has a deck (overlooking the muddy river) and windows which look out onto the rice fields.
Lots of people ride bikes around the island but I don't think I can really ride a bike - at least I am not very confident to do it!! So yesterday when I got to the island, I started to walk through the rice fields, but then came back shortly afterwards cause it was so hot.
So I came back and the owner of the bungalos and his family were having lunch (sticky rice with spicy papaya salad) and he made me join them (I could only eat a little bit). Then I asked if there was anyone who could take me on the back of a scooter around the island and he said he would! (if I paid)
So he took me around the Island - it is sooooooooo good on a scooter - Chris - I keep thinking of when we did it in the Cook Islands!!! The guy - Mr Phao has grown up on the Island and so he knew everyone. He took me to this spot where I got a boat over to what is actually Cambodia and watched the rare Irrawaddy (Mekong) dolphins. They didn't jump out of the water or anything - just sometimes came up for air or whatever, and these Israelis where also there and kept telling the Lao people to speak dolphin language to bring the dolphins over!
So now it's the next day, and contrary to what the Lonely Planet says - this Island is dead! Maybe it really is the low season here! At first I was happy to be on my own again - away from some annoying people who wouldn't stop talking about their insect and mosquito bites!!! But now I would really like some company again cause for most of the tours here you need a group of people :( which is why I just went to an internet cafe now and also bought a book to read...
Tomorrow morning I will be getting the bus to Cambodia - Siem Riep which they say takes 14 hrs....I really should have brought my Ipod!!! Hopefully I'll meet some nice people on the bus!!!
I've realised that I made a mistake - I thought I had given myself 3 months for South East Asia but in fact I have given myself only 2!!! It is such a short time and it really feels like a whirl wind trip! Especially because the bus trips take such a long time...
Anyway, next stop Angkor Wat!
xxx Orna
