After temple exploring, cafe lounging, and relaxing in Luang Prabang, I flew to Southern Laos to a place called Si Phan Don - aka 4,000 islands - on the Mekong River. I thought Luang Prabang was relaxed, this place has forced laziness upon me! However getting here was not fun.
The flight was easy enough - one tiny international airport to another tiny international airport. So tiny that the international departure area was one tiny room and to use the bathroom you had to exit security. No problem cuz you're the only one there so it takes mere seconds. And they don't give a crap about liquids, or your belt or shoes. The bathroom itself has just a cloth handtowel to dry your hands off. Once exiting the airport in Pakse I had to take a taxi to the South Bus Terminal to catch a 3-4 hour bus ride to the boat landing and then a boat to the islands. I didn't even know which island I was going to stay at but I figured I'd talk to other travelers on the way and figure it out.
So at the airport I caught a ride with a few other travellers all heading the same way. They were going to Don Khon Island - I was thinking about going to Don Khong, but Don Det sounded good too. Once at the bus terminal (which was a large dirt lot with a whole lot of randomness - small busses, large busses, vendors on foot, vendors in stalls, cows, more cows, music blaring) we immediately found our bus. It wasn't really a bus as much as it was a 12 foot truck with the box replaced with an open air frame and long benches running down each side and packed FULL of supplies...and FULL of people. My knees were ground into the box in front of me which held a tractor motor and there was absolutely no other place for them. The middle of the truck bed was filled with cans of sweet and condensed milk (which they put in their coffee instead of normal milk) and other goods and the little kids were sleeping on top of the rice bags there as well. I have a good picture I'll try to post on facebook at some point. I was touching the person on each side and it was hot and dusty and uncomfortable. Once in a while we'd stop to let someone on or off or deliver something and women would come to the bus trying to sell us food or drinks. One lady carried a bunch a skewers with roasted beetles - like a beetle bouquet! Yes, they were for eating and I didn't feel like trying one at the moment. The ride was made ten times better because of the company of a guy named Lance. He and his wife, both Americans, now permanently live on Don Det Island in a rented bungalow. His wife, Donna, is staying in Pakse where the only hospital is because the 14 year old boy of the family they're staying with broke his arm and it started to heal incorrectly because the family didnt' think it was necessary to bring him to the hospital. They thought blowing on his arm would heal it??!! Anyway, Lance and I chatted for most the time and I found out that the bungalows and the family who own them have a few open to rent for 30,000 kip - about $3.75 a night! And they're right over the mekong and have a nice balcony and a hammock. Another couple who was on the bus also decided to stay at the bungalows - Paradise Bungalows to be exact. They're primitive, but paradise nonetheless.
We took the family's boat over to "Paradise" and by this time we were sweaty, dirty, sticky and tired. Pretty much the whole time I've been here I've felt like a piece of sticky rice cuz it's ridiculously hot and humid. Colorado dryness has made me weak to humidity. Lance showed us where the best spot for swimming in the Mekong was and it was glorious!!!! I know the Mekong is as dirty as any other major river but I was so disgustingly filthy that I couldn't get any worse. And really, this is where the local people bathe and the water in this region is so clear. Yes, there is loads of garbage and plastic bags stuck in the shrubbery that poke through the water, but I don't care.
So one of the boys herein the family is named Bong. He's 19 years old and has down syndrome and if I ever had down syndrome this is the place I'd want to live. Bong isn't his real name but everyone calls him that because "bong" loosely means "retarded kid." And Bong is hilarious! He can't speak any Lao and looks more like hes 14 years old and he sings and sings and sings his own little jibberish songs. He's happy as can be and his family lives and works at the bungalows so theres always someone there watching him. The neighbors watch over him too. This island is pretty small and everyone knows everyone so they all know Bong. I danced with him a little bit and got my picture with him. Apparently he loves the ladies. You know when Bong is around cuz he does this funny jibberish talk pretty loud. Lance has him on YouTube so try to look up "Bong dances Paradise Bungalows Dong Det Laos" or something like that and you should be able to find him.
The house the family lives in (and every other family here) is raised up on beams/stilts. Like a glorified tree house almost. Under the "floor" is just dirt and they have hammocks strewn up all over and I see them hanging out there often - it's probably cooler the closer you are to the bare ground. I see the little 1 year old girl sleeping in a hammock that has a rope attached so someone else can pull the rope and keep the hammock rocking. Our version of the rocking chair. I also watched as their 3 year old boy, Sompon, held a huge knife - more like a machete - and was shaving bark of sticks - he never cut himself and it seemed he knew exactly what he was doing. His parents were right there and didn't seem to mind one bit. Lance said that once the Sompon was chopping the knife on the ground and caught his fingers under the blade. It didn't cut him but he was wailing hard. Lance asked if the family should take away the knife and they said "no-he'll learn not to do that again".
The bathrooms here are interesting - they always are in foreign countries. Every single toilet I've seen on this trip has had a kitchen like sprayer hooked up next to it. Some have had toilet paper, others no TP at all. At the bungalow there are neither. They are a ways back from the bungalows which is good to keep the stink away, but it sort of sucks in the middle of the night. So, in the bathroom next to the toilet there is a large trough of water with a bowl sitting next to it. I've been instructed to either buy TP in town and throw the TP in a waste basket, or use the bowl and water. I've mainly opted for the TP in case you were wondering. To use the water, you're suppose to hold the bowl with water in your right hand and pour it down your bum. Then at the same time reach with your left hand to gently cleanse the areas. There is a faucet around the corner to wash your hands. And about 10 feet from that faucet is a tiny wooden hut with a pig inside grunting little piggy sounds. It took me a while to figure out where the pig was cuz it's sort of camoflaughed (sp?). I like to pretend that I'm camping in the deep south.
Also the shower is cold water, but because there really is no such thing as "cold" here it's really lukewarm with no heating device. Fine by me cuz it's sweltering. A couple days ago I was ill for most the day and nearly passed out from the heat on the way back from the bathroom so I went to Lance and Donna's bungalow and hung out on their porch so I wasn't alone. It's good to know nice people in each location. Lance got me a mat to lay down on and gave me some tunes he's created to listen to. Later I told him that if we went the kilometer into town to get me an ice cream I'd buy him one too. I was too dizzy headed to move much. By the time he got back the ice cream was completely melted. Completely. It still tasted good.
Lance and Donna are from Tennessee and Lance makes some rockin good music. I'm going to get a couple of his CD's and will have to post their website on facebook once I figure out what it is :).
Oh, the electricity has gone out 3 times in the past 3 days. The first night I was here there was a major rain storm. It was so loud in that little bungalow but it sounded wonderful. I had to use the bathroom so I ran out with my rainjacket on but by the time I got back my shorts were soaking wet. Then the fan in my room went out and noticed nothing else would work either. The electricity came back on later the next afternoon. You couldn't buy any ice cream cuz no one would open up the freezers to let any hot air in. So I was forced to swing in my hammock, swim in the river, read and repeat. I've been doing just that since. I did rent a bike this morning to check out the waterfalls. Again I felt like a scrubby piece of sticky rice and jumped in the river after an hour. Every pore on my face was sweating profusely it probably looked like I was sobbing. Anyway, each night it seems like a minor storm blows through and the electricity goes out for a few hours. During those hours my fan is off, I stare at my mosquito net trying to get comfortable on the hard mats I sleep on and sweat some more. The beds are killing me here. Oh well, I will appreciate everything I have at home 100 times more.
Yesterday I bought some yogurt cuz I need some of that good bacteria (the doxycycline I take for malaria kills all the good and the bad). I didn't look to see what flavor it was and for the most part you just look at the picture of what's on the label to figure it out anyway. I thought I grabbed honey flavor or maybe pineapple, but nope, it was corn!!!! Took me a few bites to figure it out and thought "did they accidently get corn into this yogurt?" Reading the fine print in English, it says "Cereal, beans and Lotus Pods". I tried one more bite after knowing what it was and just couldn't do it.
Did I mention the kids here? They're so cute - from my porch I can see little kids playing and bathing in the river below and I just want to pinch their cute faces! Sompon, the 3 year old, and I were playing the other night and he was crawling up on the table I was sitting at. We'd play "hi-five, down-low, too-slow" and I didn't know what he was saying and he didn't know what I was saying. But that's the beauty of playing with a 3 year old. They don't care. I would point to him and say "Sompon" and then point to myself and say "Suzanne" but he would just say "Falang" Falang literally means French but it's used for all fairskinned foreigners I guess. So no, I'm not Suzanne, I'm Falang along with the rest of them. It was pretty funny. His mom was laughing too. I'm sort of afraid to leave Lao for Cambodia because I've never felt safer in a foreign country before. Lao are not pushy when at the market bargaining, they're soft spoken and honest. I've never felt like I was scammed to pay a higher price. Yes, foreigners pay higher than locals but it amounts to pennies and completely worth paying a little extra for. Exact change was always given and I never felt someone was going to rip me off. I've heard different of Cambodia, but that's the next adventure. Gotta embrace it!
The only other thing I meant to write about was the taxi ride I had from Hanoi to the airport. The taxi driver was taking the long way around and I couldn't figure it out until he came to the Ho Chi Mihn Masoleum (I think) where there were a ton of people standing in the square. Music was playing and everyone was at quiet attention. The taxi driver rolled down the window, stopped and watched from the car until it was over. It only took a couple minutes but it was interesting to see that many people at attention. I prepaid the driver so I wasn't getting charged extra.
Tomorrow I'm off to Cambodia. I'm trying to make my way slowly to Siem Reap by Saturday, that way if Saturday doesn't work out (bus gets a flat, the road washes out, aliens attack, whatever) then at least I'll be there on Sunday by the time Scott flies in. I'll stay in the town of Kratie, Cambodia then another town the next night.
Stay tuned!...
wow suzanne... quite the adventure! Cant wait to see pictures!
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