Been there, Don Det

It has been a couple of busy days on the Mekong islands in Laos.

This archipelago is known as the 4000 islands and it is so green and lush, surrounded by one of the biggest river in the world.

We stayed mainly in Don Det, the first day we rented bikes (less than £1 for the whole day) and biked through the island. It is bigger than I thought it would be, but roads were flat thank Goodness! 

We biked to Don Khon, an island that is connected with a bridge, where you can see another waterfalls (it was really nice but I am planning to avoid waterfalls for a while after this one... Laos just seems to be one long waterfall!), a small beach and a rescued gibbon called Miss Hoi.

The colours of these paddy fields!

The small roads we biked on the island

We made it back to the village - well, the bar, just in time for sunset. Tired and very hot but give me this and a couple of Beer Lao any day! 

The second day we decided to step it up a notch and booked a kayaking tour. Neither of us had ever been kayaking before and we went as a large group. The local guides were good, but my steering skills were very poor and the river was going fast. We hit some grade 2 rapids (not sure if that is high or not) but the thing that really got us were the bushes and branches on the river. We got a big smug in the first half as everyone else capsized but we did not, just to capsized as soon as we set off again. Lost one paddle, but both ourselves and the paddle got rescued and could carry on. We got stuck on some rocks again on the way down, got a few scrapes and were generally tired and sore... I did enjoy it though and kept asking Ben if we can go kayaking in the UK :-) the trip also involved walking to yet another waterfall (also known as walking over tiny bridges and through some Mekong mud) and a boat ride to see the endangered Mekong dolphins. Not overly impressed by the waterfalls but we saw a couple of dolphins and it was nice to know the locals are doing their best to look after these fresh water dolphins seeing there's only less than 100 of them apparently!

After that trip, we went for one last Lao Laap (minced meat with garlic, shallots, coriander and lots of fresh Asian spices) and one last local brew. That was our last stop in Laos, a bit sad to be leaving the land of baguettes (they used to be a French colony) but excited to move on. We crossed the land border to Cambodia (which involved sitting 4hr in a cramped mini van with someone who forgot his deodorant!) and arrived to Siem Reap, the home of the mighty Angkor Wat.

Coffee and waterfalls

We are in the Champasak province, in the south of the Lao PDR.
We took a small tour today, going around the Boulevan Plateau - an area famous for its waterfalls and coffee plantations.

It was a successful day: the coffee was so nice that we bought some to bring home with us (if it fits in the backpack, that is) - however, I could not help but notice that it was made with Italian coffee machines!
The waterfalls were also very nice, we stopped at 3 of them - one of which was a beautiful background for our lunch.

We also stopped at a couple of villages but that bit I did not really like: I personally would not like someone walking around my area taking pictures of my house and the kids in these villages are so used to this that they come to you with their hands open. We asked if we could have a tour without the village visit but it was not possible, so we stood on the side of the road being as respectful as possible but still feeling very awkward.

We also witnessed a very ordinary day in Laos: two trucks rolled over (we got there after it had happened), the whole road was close. Two policemen showed up but the main gig was a massive digger that basically flattered a side area next to the trucks so the cars (and tractors, motorbikes and everything on wheels in Laos) could keep on flowing. Hope the drivers are okay!

The tour took the whole day, some people cover it in motorbikes over a few days but we are running out of days so that was the best way to do it.

One more night in sleepy Pakse, a town on the Mekong river. One more beef noodle soup tomorrow for breakfast (am trying to blend it with the locals!) and off to a place called 4000islands tomorrow.

Rain on the island of fire

We have now left Siquijor, another island is the Central Visayas. The Spanish colonizers called it the “Isla de Fuego” (“Island of Fire”) due to the glow of the multitude of fireflies that would gather nightly... I find this hilarious as we have had quite a bit of rain since we have been here and only one firefly!

Not sure if the rain and wind (so loud that keeps you up at night!) were due to the typhoon Koppu that was hitting the north island of Luzon a few days ago, or just our own luck.

Regardless of the weather, we decided to go on an island tour... Siquijor is supposed to be home to black and white sorcery, as well as enchanted tree and potions.

Our first stop was a 400year old tree called Century Old Balete tree. The tree is quite impressive and am glad we stopped by - minus the rain. 

We then stopped at a church, a convent that doubles as a school with some impressive Catholic art (aka a Sacred Heart of Jesus rug just out of Father Ted) and went through a forest.

All of this in a tricycle: a small scooter that has a iron seat mounted on and takes you around. This did not help our getting wet but we had a pretty good view of the road/island the whole time and we could wave at all the locals while we were passing by. Filipinos have proven to be extremely friendly and the kids always shout "hello" to us!

We also stopped at Cambugahay Falls. You can swim, jump the ropes and the water was the right temperature. But the stairs were so slippery I am surprised I made it there and back.

The last stop was a mangrove forest. They had set up bridges all the way to the sea and you can have a better look at the tress as you are pretty much walking on water. I really liked it!