Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
- After a very uncomfortable/cramped 'sleep' we arrived at a bus station and with everyone as confused as one another we all collapsed on chairs waiting an hour for a separate bus to take us down to where we were to catch the boat over to the islands.
-
- The next bus took about 4 hours an then we were able to hop onto a long tailed boat which took us over to Don Det. This tends to be the most popular island amongst backpackers as it tends to have more places to stay and eat/drink than the other islands. The name '4000 islands' is given literally as during dry season the river level drops revealing up to 4000 islands - some are inhabited by locals and others are so small there may be just a single tree on the island. During wet season however, the water levels raise and flood a lot of the land, so there tends to be only a few main islands that tourists visit as they are always deemed 'safe'.
-
- Most of the bungalows you can stay at on the island tend to be situated on 2 sides - the sunrise or sunset side, and we chose sunset. The island only had a small area of beach where the boats dock (or get dragged ashore) and so the rest of the island was just land and then a short drop down and then water. Our bungalow was literally on the waterfront and so you could clamber down for a swim if you wanted and it also had a couple of hammocks outside which were perfect for watching the sunset from.
-
- We spent most of the time on Don Det just relaxing, and on the first night we decided to swim out to a sand bank about 150m out from our bungalow to watch the sunset. However Becca wasn't the strongest of swimmers and was too tired to swim all the way back and do I ended up towing her back to the island! In 3 years of beach lifeguarding that was the most I'd ever used my training haha. Ah well, came in handy after all ;)
-
- We also hired bicycles one day and explored further across the island and down the sunrise side. There was a neighbouring island, joined to Don Det by a bridge, which we went over to and cycled to some waterfalls which were apparently the biggest (volume of water) in Asia. When looking around though I fell into a tree somehow and grazed all down my arm, and whilst getting my balance back I kicked a big rock and split my big toe open! So I hobbled to one of the locals stalls to see if they had a bandage or anything (note to self:- always carry first aid kit!) which they didn't. Instead, the girl at the stall ran off and came back with bamboo leaves which she chewed up in her mouth and then put on my toe (to apparently stop bleeding) and then wrapped it in toilet paper and secured with an elastic band!
-
- After this little fiasco we followed some signs and cycled to a beach. It was bigger than the busy little one on Don Det and had less people around. Becca went for a swim in the clear blue water which offered some respite from the heat, but I couldn't go in because of my stupid split bamboo toe! Whilst there we got chatting to 3 other travellers who told us that this was the perfect area to spot rare Irrawaddy Dolphins, and that they were going to hire out a small boat to go and try to spot them if we wanted to join? We said yes, of course, and got put in a separate boat and set off in search. We sailed around the edge of the island until we were at an area in the river smack bang between Laos and Cambodia. It was weird thinking both countries were just on either side of you... After about 15 minutes of waiting, sure enough in the distance we saw the dolphins! They were a fair distance out and we weren't allowed any closer as we would have been bordering on Cambodian territory, but we could definitely see them jumping out of the water :) After 40 minutes or so we started to make our way back to the island and by this point the sun was setting which made for a beautiful journey back.
-
- By the time we got to the island and back to the bikes however, we discovered Beccas tyre was flat and so we had to walk it for about an hour before we found anywhere that fixed punctures. In the end it was a girl about age 15 who ran out with a spare inner tube and glue to help us, and fixed it for around 50p! (Another note to self:- learn how to change flat tyres on bikes and cars when home ;) ). It was pitch black at this point and we couldn't see we're we we're cycling - especially as it was down windy paths and across fields. Luckily I had my head torch in my bag (!!!) and so we made our way back in dim light all the while looking like a complete idiot!
-
- A couple days into being at the island I had a rejig of my travel itinerary, pushing back my Australia dates by two weeks and booking flights to South Korea to see Steph and Barry! The flights leave from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul in S Korea, and then return flight goes To Bali, Indonesia via KL. I really can't wait to see Steph and Barry, especially after feeling really poorly the past week and pretty homesick, so it will be great to see a familiar face :)
-
- Because of these 10 or so days in Korea it means I won't have time for Vietnam, and I will have to whizz through Cambodia slightly quicker than planned but still in enough time.
-
- The following day we booked our ticket off the island and the bus to take us through to Cambodia and onto Phnom Penh.
- comments