DAYS 47-50 FOUR THOUSAND ISLANDS (SI PHAN DON), LAOS “THE HIPPY ISLANDS”Today was my last day in Cam

DAYS 47-50 FOUR THOUSAND ISLANDS (SI PHAN DON), LAOS “THE HIPPY ISLANDS”Today was my last day in Cambodia. I was rather sadto be leaving this wonderful country. There were so many things I had notcovered. Still, the onward journey to Laos had me excited for the adventures to come.Being in Kratie I would now head north by minivanto the enchantingly named Four Thousand Islands, an inland river archipelago insouthern Laos. It was going to be a cramped journey, our minivan having scarcelyenough room for the half dozen of us, let alone our baggage. It certainlywasn’t a place for somebody with long legs.On the way up I had the company of a few fellow farangtravellers with some locals thrown in for good measure. One of the guys was aGerman chap, in his 50s I should think. He was so delighted to hear that Ispoke some German (knowing little English himself) that he broke out into fullGerman, neglecting to realise that I could not understand much of what he was tellingme (I nodded with the occasional ‘ja’ thrown in out of politeness). All thesame I was pleased to have been a sounding board to this poor man.We eventually reached the border, and after a briefdelay as our passports were stamped we arrived in Laos. It was not immediately obviousthat we were in a new country, other than the change in currency to LaotianKip.We reached the embarkation point to the islands ingood time, and after a precarious boat journey in a small transportation boat, barelytwo people wide, we made it to the main island of Don Det.Don Det, and its sister island Don Khon, have areputation as being something of a ‘stoner’ resort where hippy backpackers cometo lie on hammocks and while away the hours on a joint or two. Certainly onlanding, one soon got the sense that this was an island where you may well gethigh.The island is small, spanning a perimeter of a mere7km. Cars are banned on the island, meaning you must rely on walking, cyclingor the moped to get around.On arrival, my priority was to rest as I was notfeeling particularly well. I had eyed a place in my Lonely Planet guide priorto arrival on the island located on the “sunset side” . The accommodation generallyon the islands was basic, although not bad by local standards. I had a littlecabin to myself, with a sizeable bed and an en suite toilet (though requiring a“manual” flush). The view from the communal balcony was particularly nice (above).By now, I was beginning to look like Mogli, as thisphotograph will attest.Over the course of the three nights on the islands Itried to make the most of my time there, notwithstanding my somewhat worseningcondition and the usual travellers’ d**a doing its worst. Cycling round theislands was a clear way to pass the time here, but on the second day I took tothe waters in a kayak with a group. It was pretty fun, if a little tiring in myphysical condition. There was a funny moment though when one of the kayaksheaded straight into a bush full of spiders, which predictably tried to entertheir kayak en masse. Though many screams were heard nobody was (physically) harmed.Every now and then we entered a strong current and were thrown off course bythe eddies, putting us perilously close to the very same bushes – but welargely avoided them.After a touch of Irrawaddy dolphin spotting (above), we had some rather strenuous work getting the kayaks outof the water and up what might be described as a cliff - and then fastening allof this equipment on the inside and outside of a songthaew. As you can see wewere rather squashed and knackered!We then saw the impressive Don Khone waterfalls. Here we are at the vantage point:I would eventually change accommodation a furthertwo times on the island in search of wifi and comfort. How first world. For mehowever, being a solo traveller it was as important to continue blogging thisblog as it was to travel – granted that it was always going to be difficult onan island which was only gradually embracing modernity. My second guesthouse was on the south of theisland, and was completely deserted. This was not unusual as it was not aparticularly busy period to be travelling round South East Asia, and priceswere cheap. Given a choice I probably wouldn’t have stayed in this isolated hostel,without guests, but as it took some time to get there and my condition wasn’tgreat I was not particularly wont to look further.It was however, perhaps, the first time in mytravels that I had genuinely been out with the stillness of nature. At suchtimes it would’ve been good to have company to share my experiences andthoughts. Maybe I would have lingered longer into the night to look at thestars. It was the right place to have done so. As it was, I briefly dinedoutside with some other diners in a neighbouring hostel and called it an earlynight.I left that hostel the next day and returned backnorth of the island (this time by motorbike) where I stayed the night in aslightly tired room, again on the condition of wifi.By the end of my stay I was really quite exhaustedfrom illness, kayaking and all the walking on the island, and in a way quiteready to move on. I had found the locals on the island somewhat a mixed bag. Somewere delightful, like the lady that served me a delicious fried fish, and when seeing I hadn’t quite skinned the flesh off the bone, took the remainder and hand fed it to me!Others were quite miserable, like the owners of the first hostel I had stayed in, who hesitated so much as to crack a smile. Perhaps they had quite enough with tourists? I just hoped this wasn’t a portent for theremaining part of my stay in Laos.I would now move on north to Kong Lor, the world’sspookiest cave… -- source link

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