Advertisement
Published: January 9th 2013
From our first morning in Don Khong, eating breakfast while overlooking the Mekhong, the island's mellow vibe won us over. A tropical island in the true sense of the word, complete with palm trees, canoe-like ferries and the extreme languidity was almost visibly dripping from the local's every movement; we were not disappointed we had chosen this island over Don Det (even though getting there had been a shot in the dark).
We rented a motorbike the first day and drove around the whole island (about 50 km), and about 100m from our guesthouse, we were already in the countryside. Besides the occasional cows, dogs, and water buffaloes, the roads were deserted, and for the first time in a while we were able to relax, to stop whenever we wanted to take pictures, and to not worry that the children running towards us were going to start begging for money. Much to our relief, most people were not especially interested in us, and this made for a relaxing ride, and allowed us to look around without feeling rushed. If this is going to be Laos, we thought, then we should have come here before. However, had we not experienced Vietnam
Memorial in the bush
Its seems very special to have a little memorial for someone or something in surroundings like thisand Cambodia, we would probably not have been able to appreciate it.
On the 31st of December we took a boat trip from Don Khong to Don Khone (VERY important to know the difference between these two!) to see the Sophamit waterfalls and cycle around the island.
Some of the people on our boat had paid extra to take another boat to see the rare Irawaddy dolphins, which sounded really nice at first but then we found out that the dolphins are stuck in their river pools because of the shallowness of the water in the dry season, and don't much like the boats coming so close to them, so we decided against it. The waterfalls were very impressive, and we can only imagine how powerful they must be in the rainy season. The tempting hand-written signs to scattered beaches seemed promising when we saw the white sand, but the water was murky, and Øyvind wasn't in the mood for a swim, nor was I in the mood to figure out whether or not there are water snakes near the shore, so I got my hair wet and we rode to the Southeast tip of the island, where
New Years party 2
The woman pouring beer was our bar lady of the night we had lunch at a lovely little shack restaurant from where we could see Cambodia (or so we were told), as well as watch the people in boats and kayaks trying to find the poor dolphins.
Back on Don Khong, we had heard the locals were having a big party, and the manager of our guest house said it would be fine if we went.
We followed the loudspeakers and got to the local school, where a big stage had been set up, and there were hundreds of tables. We made a donation, and were immediately given a bag of ice cubes and two bottles of beer as a reward. We sat down next to an American woman who was travelling on her own, and her and I got up to dance, urged by two local women. When the music was over (it seemed very important to begin heading for a seat BEFORE the music stopped), they dragged us over to their table. After getting Øyvind to follow, we were adopted for the entire evening by an entire extended family. The matriarch, a bossy, stocky woman whose expression did not lead on to how nice she was, made
Who are they?
It seemed like some of the kids had never seen as pale people as me (Øyvind) sure every sip of our beer was refilled before the cup touched the table, and urged us to chug as often as possible. There were few dances we weren't a part of, and when Øyvind and I were dancing together (in Lao style, mostly stifly except for some arm movement), many of the teenagers joined in around us and enjoyed that tremendoulsy (it is this observer's opinion that it was Øyvind's facial expressions while dancing that made them laugh...). Every time we were absent from the table, our cups went missing, but in typical Lao communal tradition, someone just emptied out their own (no, there was no rinsing involved) and gave it to us. When in Lao...
We could barely communicate, but were nonetheless so welcome. Every time we went up and down from the dancefloor we were held by the hand by one of the women (should we lose our way, or maybe because they were rather enebriated and needed the guidance themselves). We counted in the New Year in Lao, and it was one of the most memorable nights of our trip so far. We felt incredibly grateful to those lovely people and how generous they were
We go bicycle riding
when moving around, bicycles are very useful. but it would be so nice if some of the bikes were made for slightly taller european like Øyvind too.. to give of themselves to strangers and to share their celebration with us.
On our last day on Don Khong (and after the previous night's festivities) I thought it would be a geat idea to rent bicycles and get a boat to drive us to the mainland so we could bike up to get a closer look at the giant hilltop buddha that we could always see glistening in the heights accross the Mekong from our guesthouse. By the time we climbed the hundreds of steps up to the buddha, I realized I shouldn't have forced my (already temple-weary) husband to join me. The views were nice, but the platform around the buddha was so tiny it was impossible to do anything but stand directly under it. Also I must admit it was midday and sweltering. So we had lunch back on Don Khong and then I went for a bike ride on my own, sticking to the narrow path that wound around the southern part of the island, between the last row of houses and the Mekong. It was very quiet and rather intimate (I must admit at times I felt like an intruder, but I do believe
one feels this way whenever looking for thigs to photograph), and I got a real feel for the life on the island. Surprisingly, on two occasions, little girls came up to me smiling and ended up asking for money, but seemed confused as to why, and were easily dissuaded with a smile. I do hope the people responsible for the trained child beggars in Cambodia never make it to these parts (or, preferrably, go away entirely). Otherwise people were nice, if rather uninterested in my being there, which is always lovely.
Going to bed that last night on Don Khong, we were ready to start heading further North, and were extremely grateful for our fantastic introduction to Laos...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 17; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0208s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Anastasia78
Anastasia78
You did it again!
Another gorgeous photo! It looks too good to be true. Good job!