Dolphins without noses!

Hey Hey Hey!
As we wait for our laundry to dry, let's blog!
We made it to Laos! We decided to shell out some money and save a lot of time by flying to Laos instead of waiting for a visa in Cambodia, then taking a three day bus trip to the border. We flew with Laos Airlines, and about thirty minutes after taking off we were landing in a new country. We certainly enjoyed our time in Cambodia, but felt it was high time we saw Laos, a place universally lauded by other travelers. Every single backpacker we have asked about Laos tells us more or less the same thing, "You're going to Love it, Laos is so CHILL." (emphasis added.) Unsure exactly what "chill" means, we embarked on our quest to find out ourselves. So far chill means:
Eating incredible Chicken Tikka Masala (Indian food) on the street corners of Pakse, Southern Laos
Taking a quick bus ride down to an island chain in the Mighty Mekong called 4,000 Islands. Along the way our bus driver had to stop every five minutes for cows, buffaloes, ducks, dogs and goats blocking the road. Once we left the bus it was just a quick canoe ride over to the island of Don Det, a small and wonderful island whose exterior is dotted with bungalows to stay in, and whose interior is filled with emerald rice paddies.
Taking a fantastic sunset tour from Don Det up to the northern tip of a neighboring isle with a ten year old guide. We landed a half mile south of the point and hiked through towering bamboo groves, brushing elbows and horns with enormous black water buffalo until we reached the point. Once there we saw Cambodia on the shore one mile distant to our left, and more of Laos off to our right. Cambodia was getting hammered by a lightning storm, so we high-tailed it back to a bamboo hut to wait out the storm. Only a tip of the storm passed over us meaning very light precipitation. To while away the time we made faces and played peekaboo with the gaggle of local girls sitting under the eave of the hut across the path from us. Good fun. After the rain passed we boated back up to the point to see the remnants of the sunset among the storm clouds. Check out the photos Katie took. Once back on Don Det I nearly cracked a molar in two on a small pebble in my otherwise incredible dinner of lentils. Worry not, as further investigation proved that the tooth is fine, thank you very much.
Chill seems to mean biking around the tiny island of Don Det, as well as its sister island with which it is connected by an old French railroad bridge. On one side of this island we visited an enormous waterfall/series of rapids with unfathomable amounts of water pouring over it. Keeping in mind that only one small braid of the Mekong was rushing over it should give you an idea of how large the Mekong is while in flood. Further south on the island we biked down a slope to a tiny brown sand beach. As we got off our bikes a Laotian man came down from his hut and shouted, "Dolphins?!" to which the answer always is, "Yes!" We hopped into his slightly leaky boat for a one mile trip down the Mighty Mekong. We disembarked on the Cambodia side of the Mekong, and based on a billboard there expected to be sold another expensive hike to see some poor dolphin trapped in a tank. Instead our guide asked for a dollar each from us, then pulled up rounds for us to sit on right where we got off of his boat. Lo and behold, not 100 meters out in the Mekong Irrawaddy Dolphins began surfacing like crazy. For about a half hour we sat there and marveled at the fact that a) there are wild dolphins there in front of us b) they live in freshwater and c) THEY HAVE NO NOSES! If you don't believe me, google them and see for yourself. As interesting was our return trip up the Mekong in flood. To make it up the rushing torrent of brown water our guide hugged the banks as much as possible, to the point that we were weaving our way to the left and right of the trees which line the Mekong when it is within its normal banks.
Chill might also mean rushing back to our bungalow after a strange dinner (not sure what we should expect when we order a Caesar Salad in Laos) as lightning lit the sky up. We got extremely lucky and managed to catch some of the storm on digital film.
So, yes, Laos is really "chill." Right now we are back in Pakse, looking for a few more travelers interested in taking a day tour of the coffee-growing and waterfall laced Bolaven Plateau. We understand that Vientienne is flooded, but are still interested in heading up that way. Once we do, we'll clue you all in.
Until then,
Tucker and Katie

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