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Published: August 17th 2006
Time goes by on a tropical island
( a.k.a. been there Don Det)
There is nothing like being on a tropical island; you get to go through all kinds of experiences
we crossed the Cambodian border at the late afternoon and took a boat to one of the 4000
islands in south Laos where the Mekong river widens to 14km wide.
We arrived and time stopped for the next 4 days until we made ourselves to pack and
continue our journey.
It is hard to describe or photograph doing nothing. but watching the world go by is easy when
nothing happens only a wide river flows next to your cabin and hammock.
surprise - it's the weather !
After watching the most beautiful sunset ever (no camera - no photo) with cold Lao beer and
some great local food, we went back to our bungalow happy and thrilled by sunset, we swung
on the hammock, took a romantic candle light shower (separately 😊 ) and straight in to the
bed that was covered with a mosquito net.
Don Det
the french once had a railroad to haul logs in the island. this is what is left...we fell immediately asleep. it wasn't for long. the
biggest thunder storm we have ever experienced hit the island. as we watched it from inside
our bed through the window it was amazingly bright and loud. the lightning was continuous
and the wind and rain was so strong that we thought the cabin would blow away. the sounds
were so strong that had it been a Hollywood movie then we would have said the effects
were too much. if it was a thriller movie, Fredi Kruger would probably appear on our window
just as the lightning struck... Hagit screamed, Yaron was brave and protected her :-)
relaxation
Life on a remote island are very simple, you eat the local products - we ordered a fruit salad
on the same place in 3 different occasions. every time we got something else, different fruits -
I guess they served the fruit that they picked at the same day ...
Living on a remote island also means that there is electricity only between 6-9 pm (now you
understand the candle
Don Det
we stayed in bungalows like these light showers)... the first thing that you pay attention to is the quiet -
with no electricity you don't hear music, see television etc.. everything is quiet and peaceful,
at night you feel like in the middle of a jungle with all the animals you can imagine to find
there.
The only problem we found in not having electricity was taking cold showers...
The funniest thing was to find a fan in our room - thank you. What are we supposed to do
with it with out electricity !?
Outside our bungalow we had two hammocks. I (Hagit) found it is so relaxing just resting on
the hammock, swinging with the wind, reading a book, watching the river, boats, our next
bungalow neighbors kissing, and i even read the magazine Yaron bought - The Economist -
after all i am going to business school in October...
On the other hand, Yaron found the hammock situation really bothering after feeling sea-sick..
and preferred the solid bed for reading...
sand-clock
only 6 weeks to the end of our trip!
Lao food and drink
food you can buy at any bus stop. on the right GRASSHOPPERS and eatable flowers. on the left fried chicken.
just longer then a french vacances. for the first time we
find ourselves counting days for the first time we are looking at the calender 2-3 times a day
trying to figure out what we have time to do.
we cannot live with the pressure! lying
Everywhere in the world locals resort to lying in order to get a few more bucks out of tourists.
but for some reason South-Asia and South-East-Asia are by far the hardest hit.
Could it be
that Buddha and Shiva are more forgiving then Allah, Christ and Confucius? * If the hotel you want to go to is "closed" it means that the taxi driver doesn't get commission in that place.
* If a bystander says that the boat you want to take already left AND THERE ARE NO MORE
TODAY it always means his uncle can take you there using his privet boat or taxi.
* If the bus you bought tickets to is air-conditioned it is not!
* If it costs 10USD to get to a place form an agency you can buy the same
ticket for 5USD at the bus station.
* If the Tuk-Tuk driver will take you to a place "directly" it means you will stop at his cosine's store first.
* If a kid says the restaurant you want to go to is "bad" then his mother has a different place.
Most annoying are the people how lie just to please you! you are already on the bus. payed
your fare and ask the driver how long the drive is. Even though it is an 8 hr drive he will say 6
just to make you happy! then after 8hr of driving you are still 50km away climbing the walls of
the bus only to realize that everyone else is calm because the bus will only be 1hr late!
Like we said - it happens everywhere. but for some reason it happens here more then at the
rest of the world...
what can you do? nothing! just don't ask any question since you will not get any reliable
answer. Just trust your instinct and the guidebook and hope for the best.
(to read more see
life flowing by in Don Det
reading the Economist from our balcony while the Mekong river flows besides us this link -
very similar to our expirience!) on our way to Cambodia
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Cricket
non-member comment
Loving your travel tales!
I stumbled across your blog after returning from a trip to China. You were still there. Your photos and descriptions of your Asian odessey are wonderful. They bring back memories of visiting some of the same places, and wanting to go to some new ones. I especially liked your Angkor Wat photos. Stay well and safe travels.