Dons and dolphins

Asia » Laos » South » Si Phan Don
May 18th 2012

Published: August 13th 2012

We broke up the almost interminable bus journeys in southern Laos with a detour to the impressively vast and vastly impressive Kong Lor cave, which runs for about five miles under south central Laos’ mountains. The cave is over 100m high in places, with small waterfalls occasionally pouring down, illuminated only by our torchlight, their sound amplified by the gloom. An adjoining cave provides ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 45, Displayed: 21

A rather risky occupation

The sunset painted the sky an amazing colour.

Spying on a buffalo.

Khone Phapheng waterfall

The largest waterfall (by volume) in South East Asia.

On the narrow boat back to Don Det.

Guesthouses hug the water's edge

Don Det

Another amazing sunset over Don Det

Our final view of Don Det

Including one of the wandering buffalo.

Needlessly being made to wait for two hours at the Laos-Cambodia border.

Note the apparently obligatory Van Vieng 'In the tubing' t-shirts. We avoided the backpacker party town V.V. - a once serene place where now young travellers idiotically kill themselves at the rate of two or three a month!

(Part of) Irrawaddy River Dolphin

Near Si Phan Don. They surface for about a second, and disappear again.

Close encounter

Occasionally one would breach very close to the boat. They came a lot closer when we took to the river near Kratie, Cambodia.

Another close encounter

The scientists

The man at the bow of the boat is attempting to fire a floating crossbow bolt at a dolphin. It should slightly prick the dolphins skin and take a blood sample. Either that, or he's merely using science as a front to hunt these endangered mammals. But no-one on earth would do something like that, would they?

The science boat in the wide Mekong

Small boy cycles behind our tuk-tuk

On the way back from seeing the dolphins, Kratie.

Chatting to a local in Kratie, Cambodia

With a medic from Scotland.

The boat to Koh Trong from Kratie

Our home on Koh Trong

Note the image of the woman sleeping in the mirror.

Enter Mr Mead!

And a tortoise.

Tortoises

We were hoping to find these tortoises in the wild, but it proved difficult as the locals keep them as pets.

Children in pyjamas on bikes

Lots of women and children in Kratie, particularly, like to wear pyjamas when out and about.

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Dons and dolphins

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