My next stop in Laos was the island of Don Khon at the southern tip of Laos just acrossed the Mekong river from Cambodia. The local transportation from Pakse to the ferry was a little wet and dusty full of cultural moments ... much more interesting than the tourist van that we took when we left the island. There were kids selling fried flattened chicken on a stick, banquettes, sticky rice, and lotus seeds that another passenger shared with us. Then there were the two women exchanging pieces of bark, leaves, nuts, and other indescribable things. Another lady was chewing betel nut, and spitting the red juice into a bag!
Back to the island: more laid back times walking around the island, looking for dolphins, finding the waterfalls, discovering the scattered pieces of the French railroad, reading in hammocks, treading carefully on slippery muddy roads in the dark (non-electricity island), talking to the water buffalo, jumping in and out of rain showers, and drinking lots of Lao ice coffee.
We arranged a boat ride away from the island with one of the guest house owners. The boat was like a long skinny unsteady canoe with a motor that kept on dying in the middle of the Mekong. I just hoped that the boat owner would get the thing started before we drifted down the waterfalls.
1 comment:
The pictures look wonderful. You must be enjoying every minute of the journey. There are reports of massive flooding back in Bdesh and the paper indicates that Dhaka has yet to see the worst. A lot of people are suffering and sick from the reports. You may need to stay away for another week.
Post a Comment