Hey Mister, you want tuk-tuk?

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Hello from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia - where you can be offered a tuk-tuk before you have even left your guesthouse which is definitely a first!

We arrived about lunchtime after catching the slowest bus in the world from Kratie, the good news is that the road wasn't the bumpiest that we have encountered but still made for sore legs and pins and needles!

When we last updated we were in Vientiane. Jill has fully recovered after a few days of feeling like death and we were able to go and look around the few sights that the city had to offer, which were actually quite spectacular.
The first was a golden pagoda (spire) that was very old (I've forgotten the name) that caught the sun and appeared to have been made from gold. It was here that we answered a question that had been bugging us - "where do Geckos go during the day?" we now know - they look at art exhibitions in temples! 'betcha that Mr. Attenborough doesn't know that!
From the golden pagoda we went to the Pataxi (I think that is how it is spelt!) which is a mini arc de triomphe at the end of the Lao version of the Champs Elyses (jill's spelling not mine!). Which was pretty good!

We then got the overnight bus down to Pakse before getting a minibus to Don Det, which is a little island set in the middle of the Mekong in southern Laos.
We were the only westerners on the nightbus and when we sat down we were in amongst a rowdy bunch of lads, so we thought that there would be little chance of actually getting any sleep. About 9:30pm the lights were turned out (about 2hours in the 11 hour trip) and they all got out the blankets and went to sleep leaving just us sitting there with our light on! It was quite random!

So we arrived in Don Det. Now to sum this place up I need to explain a key factor: In most of the restuarants that we went into the menu consisted of the normal food you would expect and the 'Happy' alternative - we'll leave you to figure out what the 'happy' is! This said a lot for the way of life. Half the locals seemed to be stoned which made for a very relaxed atmosphere!
Ironic then that we felt energetic and hired bikes to cycle to the next island (via a bridge before you all thought that we'd had a 'happy' meal and floated) Don Khon where there was a massive waterfall, which was quite impressive, and a beach apparently but we didn't find that!
The rest of the time we spent lying in our hammocks outside our bungalow reading or sleeping - even going for food felt like hard work!

After a few days chilling out and relaxing we thought that we'd better tear ourselves away from our hammocks and go to Cambodia, so we did!

We got a minibus to the 'unofficial' border, which meant driving through the jungle on a mud track which the bus got stuck on and had to be pushed (very muddy)! Eventually we got the crossing which consisted of 2 wooden huts about 100m apart where uniformed men looked at your passport very suspiciously and then charged you anything they wished to allow you into/out of the country!

Then it was back into Cambodia, as part of the adventure we had to cross the Mekong. So while waiting for a boat we saw 4 water buffalo being loaded onto a boat before setting off - our boat was quite boring it only contained 2 motorbikes!

So we arrived in Kratie.
The following day (yesterday) we decided to hire a scooter (don't worry parents: the roads were quiet, I was given a comprehensive lesson, we wore crash helmets and because I'm a wimp didn't go very fast! We were actually overtaken by a man with a 'cage' of pigs on the back of his scooter - honest!) to go to see the rare Irrawaddy dolphions which are only found in the Mekong and there are less that 100 left in the world.
We hired a boat (and driver - I wasn't feeling that comfident!) and went to find them.
After about 20 mins the driver killed the engine and we sat in the rain watching the dolphins coming up for air less than 5m away - it was awesome. Unfortunately due to the irregularity in which they appeared we couldn't get pictures you'll just have to believe us!

And I think that's about it! We're gonna be here for a few days to learn about the not so nice side of Cambodian history before heading up to Siem Reap to look at the spectacular side!
So until next time blog-watchers......

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Comments

[Mum (Kathy)]

How jealous am I
but glad you wore a crash helmet. You sound as if you're having a great time - temples etc sound amazing - look forward to seeing the thousands of pics. Take care xxxxx

[Linda Palmer otherwiseknown as Mum]

Nothing really
Everything sounds awesome. I've just sent a long email so won't comment much except to say that I'm pea-green with envy. It sounds wonderful. luv ya lots Mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Faye]

homo delphinus
Hello there - I am well into these blogs now but i must say that Chris Evans' one is slightly better than yours (only joking but it is worth checking out if you need a bit of English culture!)!! Be careful on the moped you don't want to end up like me !!! Did I tell you I was a dolphin in my last life ? so it was probably some of my mates you saw the other day !!! Still not at school and not missing it too much now !!! Had a typhoon here the other day so did not get up til 3 !!! Hope that all is well with you two - will forgive you for the French spelling error but will not tolerate too many more !!! Love from Faye x x x x