2011 - NZ To SF - Day 79

Day 79: (31 July 2011):
- Breakfast & decide take walk. 20k fee past a point. Don Khone visit fee.
- Small wat. Walk by pretty rice paddies & nursing cows to waterfall.
- Wide rapids & falls. Lots of water, even though this is a small segment of Mekong. Not the biggest falls. Charge for parking if come by bike. Series of bridges lead past houses & souvenier stores. Felix pick up rubbish, I don’t think will have any long term effect. Walk around. Some villages fishing, reparing fish nets in store. Surprising amount of tourists (mainstream).
- Continue walk to a “beach” where dolphin-watching boats go. Beach is muddy, water murkey. Fast-flowing, wonder haw a group of kayakers will return.
- Decide leave Si Phan Don tomorrow, didn’t realy need to relax & zone out here.
- Walk over to railroad - turns out is now a road. Decided not to get bicycles due to not sure if can bike down railroad.
- Long walk down track to south tip of Don Khone. Rain. Help person fix fallen off bicycle chain. Felix get in and hands covered in grease, I direct a bit. Everyone else on bikes. Kids. Eventually walk along river, then docks. Beautiful forest. Multi-level docks (built by French). Restaurant on side.
- No boat to waterfalls, even though on sign. Decide to go see dolpuins. Wait for boat driver to arrive on scooter: ~10 min. Lifejackets. (Req. of tour companies? Surprised they wanted us to wear them).
- 60k for boat + 20k / each for visit fee to Cambodia. Sign: $2 for visitors, & visitors from Laos.
- Can see Cambodian & building across, nice mountains.
- Very short boat ride across. Tell us to watch dolphins from building/benches.
- Me; “lamest dolphin-watching trip ever.”
- Sit by shore (chairs ppl bring out) then a bench on a floating dock.
- See dolphins breaching from time to time. Some barrel rolling, etc. Models of dolphins around.
- Start rain, sit in the snack shop/observation deck. Winter melon juice. Angkor beer available but decide not have. Charged in kip, even when ppl. beside us charged in $.
- Boat driver join others in watching boxing.
- Head back in small break in rain. Downpour after arrive. Beautiful view of mountains & rain approaching from there.
- See the tuktuk / tour cart, ask: say leave in 10 min. Ride offered on scooter, but we say prefer covered vehicle. Wait in lifejacket shed.
- Tourists return on boat with French guide. Ask for ride in French. Turns out is a family on package tour, give us free ride. Joked first in French it depends on how much we pay.
- Chat to them, Duck wet branches hitting roof. Get dropped off before bridge. Decide get lunch at LP rec’ed place: “since we have tickets to this side of town.”
- Restaurant with precariously leaning platform over river. Slow service. Scoop flush toilets. Laap & sticky rice for 1st time. Very good. LP rec’ed not on menu. Rain.
- Stop by hotel & ask about bus to Thakek. Say leave 11am & arrive 1am. Can also leave 6:30am, local buses, can arrive earlier. We’ll think about it.
- Decide explore Don Det since leave tomorrow.
- Walk across bridge. Muddy. Nice view. River & guesthouses lining it.
- More idyllic vilages. Reach the French loading dock. Entire path used to be rail line. Small stupas in fields from time to time.
- Village is muddy. Higher concentration of tourists. Lots of bars & stores with snacks (for the munchies?). Monkey on chain. Seemed to be playing with it & swinging.
- Booked bus ticket: leave 11am, arrive 8. Notice the ticket had 8am arrival on it later on, not sure what happened.
- Nice atmosphere. Must be very nice in dry season. Rain.
- Walk back in dark. Frog sounds & fireflies. Cars/trucks with broken headlights are a bit surprising when passing. Nice lights by river. ->short clothes line on deck. Hammock, but not very comfortable.
- Dinner, chat with french girls.
- Talking in room before bed: possible “shut up (old French guy?)” from neighbour, although couldn’t tell if it was of directed at us as there were talking sounds there too, sounds like they were having a conversation or something. The lady started asking us if we were staying tonight the next morning when we use internet, but went away when we say we leaving, so maybe the “shut up” was directed at us.
- Lots of cats with mangled tails: common in Laos. Why?