Four Thousand Islands

A last minute decision had us buying a bus ticket south. We decided we had wasted enough time and that backtracking would only be wasting more. Our original plan was to head back to Vang Vieng to wait out the four days until our Vietnam visa started. We had waited all day, checked out of our guesthouse, and paid our way to the bus station, only to find out that the bus they told us was leaving at 6 o'clock, actually left at 3 o'clock. Now I know what you're thinking. This was a simple mistake on our part. This is actually how it is for us every day here. It is impossible to trust anyone or anything. Complaining is only met with a blank stare and a shrug or a blatant laugh in your face. The frustration some days is indescribable. That day was one of them. Once we paid to get back into town, we found that nearly every guestroom, including the one we just checked out of were full. We ended up in the last two beds in a dorm on the rooftop of some dodgy hotel.

The next morning we arrived at the station to board the supposedly "swanky" VIP bus Ian and I decided was worth dishing out the extra cash for. Let me just say that a VIP bus ticket does not guarentee VIP treatment. Ian and I were shoved to the back of the bus, and somehow ended up with other peoples luggage piled at our feet for the entire ten hour trip. Typical.

We arrived in Pakse in the morning and were ushered onto another bus, ......another bus, and finally dropped off at the landing for the island of Don Khan. We were actually supposed to be going to Don KONG, so back onto another bus, and then a boat. Phew! We spent the day bicycle riding around the island, which was covered in beautiful little bamboo hut villages, with children running after us, screaming, "HELLO!!!!".

The next day we hired a boat and headed to another island, Don Det, a beautiful little tropical island resting on the Cambodian boarder. We spent four days on the island, sleeping in a little bamboo hut, complete with a porch with two hammocks, overlooking the Mekong river. Because Don Det is at the very bottom of Laos, not many travellers go there, making it a semi-secluded tropical paradise. Our first day there, we rented bicycles, crossed the bridge to the next island over, and found a tiny beach where we hired a local fisherman to take us to see some rare fresh water dolphins, of which only about 16 still exist. We hunkered down in the small narrow boat, sitting one in front of the other, the sides only inches above the water. It was amazing how expertly he manouvered us through the strong currents in this precarious little vessel! The dolphins put on a good show, then we headed back, stopping for a quick dip in the rapids, and a battle back to the shore!

That night as we entered our hut, a surprise awaited me. My advice would now be, when confronted with a giant cockroach sitting on your open bag, do not scream or make any sudden moves, because the safest, darkest place for that cockroach to go will be inside the bag, which is exactly where this one went. Ian and I spent the next hour on the porch shaking out each and every article in my bag. Shoes, toothpaste, and underwear all being hurled at the wall everytime I thought I'd located it. But in the end, of course we never did. The thought that it is still in there somewhere, and probably a female, still disturbes me greatly everytime I open my bag.

Our next two days were peaceful and relaxing. We went to see some beautiful waterfalls and Ian coerced a fisherman to take him out and teach him how to throw a net. Ian did exceptionally well considering these boats are about three feet wide and take considerable balance in order to just stand up in them, let alone throw a very large, very heavy fish net. I was very proud! (*sniff*) I don't think I have seen Ian happier. Picture the biggest grin you have ever seen on his face. Pretty sure a childhood dream has just come true.

Things move even slower than usual on this island, and in Laos, things move SLOWLY. We had to make sure to order our meals long before ever feeling hungry, as it takes about an hour for meals to make an appearance. When they finally arrive, they come one at a time in 15 minute intervals because rarely does a kitchen have more than one pot or pan. This also means you are rarely ever eating together and going out to dinner in a group takes a lot of patience. The kitchen usually forgets half the things you ordered so you are left to sit and wonder whether it is supposed to take two hours to make rice or if you should just give up on the hope of ever getting it. The best is when you are presented with something comepletely different from what you ordered or your meal just doesn't show up at all, simply because they ran out of whatever you ordered and didn't feel it necessary to tell you. This happens all the time. Without fail, one of us always finds some sort of insect has beaten us to our meal. A fly, a worm, a beetle. Since the locals actually eat these things anyway, when you call a waiter over to see what you have discovered in your soup, the typical reaction is a look that says, "So?". On Don Det, we had the added bonus of choosing restaurants with english menus, but waitstaff that could not speak or understand english. Quite a predicament. You say, "Chicken". They stare at you. You point to the menu. Blank stare and shrug. I think of any other way to communicate this. Since I can't draw to save my life, my chicken ends up looking like a giraffe, and that's when they start to walk away. I start yelling, "CHICKEN!, CHICKEN!", as if saying it louder will make them understand. It always comes down to that last resort where I am forced to reach deep down and find my inner chicken, inner fish, inner pig, and "Bawk", guppy lip or, "Oink", like a maniac. Tofu is a bit harder to impersonate. A glimmer of hope. Does she understand? Will I actually get my chicken? The waitress smiles, nods and walks away. After all the effort, I end up with a bowl of cabbage anyway because of course, they have run out of chicken.

After four wonderful days, reluctantly we boarded another boat to start our looooooong journey to Hanoi, in North Vietnam. We will miss you Laos! Our time has come once again to onward march!