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It seems like all we've done since we got to Lao is nothing. We seem to have skipped from one chilled out place to the next and although we've planned on doing things, we somehow didn't manage to get round to it.
It's been a week since we arrived on Don Det and since then; we spent a lot of time working hard making sure nobody stole our hammocks. We swam in the Mekong, twice. Cycled from Don Det to Don Khon to a 'beach', saw the sunset from a boat with a beer and a couple of German girls and took a boat to the ATM. Frankly, I think that's a rather successful few days…but some might disagree.
To say it's been hot since we've arrived is a bit of an understatement, heat and humidity have made it feel somewhere between 38-40 degrees most days and it's sapping the energy from us - you'd have thought that 6 months in Asia would have helped us acclimatise - but apparently not!
Don Det was lovely, the kind of place where you really can just do nothing for days on end! Our first mission of our stay was to get some cash. There's no ATM on the island which meant that we either had to get a cash advance on the credit card (with a poor exchange rate and a 6% charge - erm, no thanks!) or get a boat to the mainland and visit the nearest one…we got the boat! How scenic is your ride to the nearest ATM? I bet it wasn't as nice as a gentle 10 minute boat ride across the Mekong…anyway, that afternoon while sweating over a bowl of rice soup (my new staple diet) we were asked by a couple of German girls if we fancied going on a sunset boat trip that evening, they had space as their friend was ill - well it would be rude to refuse really, and although it was slightly more than we would have liked to spend on the excursion (as we'd seen other places offering it for a fraction of the price) we decided to go, especially as beer was apparently provided! It was lovely, we got taken to a little place to swim, and once we'd convinced ourselves that a) the herd of water buffaloes weren't going to charge at us and b) there wasn't anything dangerous in the water, we had a good 20 minutes splashing around. There are crazy currents in the river and some of them are really strong, at one point we were all swimming back towards the boat and realised that we weren't actually getting anywhere! - was just as easy to stand up and walk back. Anyway, after a few beers back on the boat, the sun was set and it was time to head back - where we were then charged for all the beer we'd drunk as well! Cheeky. But it was good fun and we made a few new friends who've offered us a place to stay for Oktoberfest, should we happen to be in Munich in October anytime soon!
We managed to get out cycling one day (typically it was about midday by the time we got out) down to Don Khon which is to the south and connected by an old railway bridge. We knew there was a fee to pay (35,000kip, roughly about £3 each) but we'd heard mixed reports about people being charged a fee just to cross onto the island and true enough, as we crossed the bridge, someone came out to ask us for the money for the ticket - we protested saying that we weren't actually going to the waterfalls, but he insisted. As we were planning on heading to the waterfalls in a few days, we decided to head back the way we'd come and visit the other side of our island. Anyway, before we got there, we thought we'd give it one more shot getting across the bridge, and for whatever reason this time, there was no one asking for money…so off we went - expecting to be caught at any moment! We were trying to find a beach we'd been told about by a Canadian couple we met at breakfast that morning…we did eventually, but not after I'd taken us on about an hour's round trip in the wrong direction - oops. Ann and Jeff from Vancouver (68 and 58 respectively) had been to the island last year and found a great little spot for swimming, which Ann did twice a day for 45 minutes, swimming up against the current and then back down - she put us to shame, even running most mornings as well! We met up with our new Canadian friends many times over the following few days for dinner as we both failed to get bikes again and cycle back down to the beach!
We also did not make it to see the waterfalls (well, we were going to the Bolaven Plateau afterwards which promised many more waterfalls all for the price of this one), nor did we manage to get a boat out to see the Irawaddy dolphins, but it can't be helped. We had a lovely few relaxing days soaking up the atmosphere - anyway, isn't this also what travelling is about?!
Here in Tad Lo, it's like a farmyard right outside our front door - pigs, chickens, cows, goats, dogs and cats all roaming around. There are some tiny little kittens at our guesthouse, but they're not quite at the 'human' stage yet so spend most of their time hiding or hissing at passing feet. Hopefully they start coming out of their shell soon…maybe one might even adopt us and we can take it around the world with us?? It's nice to be surrounded by animals again, you never know what you're going to see!
We arrived in Tad Lo 3 days ago, took a whole day of travelling up from Don Det and we arrived an hour later than we were meant to, which meant we had to walk the 1.5km into the village from the bus stop pretty quickly to try and beat the setting sun. We'd read about a few places to stay in the guidebook, but being 3 years out of date, we weren't sure what to expect. As luck would have it, the one we were aiming for (called Fandee with 4 bungalows and a big communal restaurant area) was the first one we came across and they had space for us! There were quite a few people in the communal area, so after we'd freshened up, went to have a beer and mingle…which is really hard to do when you are not fluent in French - I mean, it's not like you can just interject with a comment - as you have no idea what anyone is talking about! Tad Lo seems to be like a little French magnet, I think they outnumber the locals!!
Our reason for being in Tad Lo was to try and rent some motorbikes and do a 3 day loop of the Bolaven Plateau, but unfortunately, I don't think we'll manage it this time. We might just head back to Pakse in a few days and rent a bike from there for a day trip instead (probably a bit safer for us being new to bikes too). Yesterday we went to the waterfalls next to the village, very pretty and there are some nice little places to swim in. We also visited the 2 local elephants and fed them some bananas before their bath time; every evening, they're taken down to the river (where everyone is swimming!) and given a bath and fed, as usual, it's a little bit of a show for the tourists, but it was nice to get up close to them and give them a little stroke!
We were meant to go up to the waterfalls earlier today and have a swim, but the heat got the better of us. Our lunch spot was not very well ventilated and we were each served with a plate of food that would have been enough for 2 adults (honestly, it was obscenely huge)…so all I was fit for was a nap and a good dose of electrolytes. Not sure what our next moves are…might have to give the dice a roll again! But right now, it's Beer Lao o'clock and there's a great little place down the road that does amazing home-made chips!!
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