Going further south

Hey everybody,

Its me again :) It has been two weeks ago, time really does fly when you have fun!

So how have I been doing? The last update was in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. That night I was picked up by a sleeping bus to go to Pakse, which is in the south. I arrived their early in the morning and during breakfast at the hostel were I checked in I got to know two amazing people from France. I ended up spending the whole day with them and they got really handy when I visited a local hospital. No worries, it wasn’t really serious. I just had like this crazy itch on my head for the last few days. I had dreamed that I had head louse, so after that I couldn’t find rest until I knew for sure. As some of you know, it wouldn’t be the first time I would have louse ;) So they went to the hospital with me where this old friendly lady approached us. She wasn’t working there, but was able to speak French and wanted to help us. When we got to the dokter, the old lady translated the consulation from the dokter from Laos into French, which then got translated by my friends into English. It was a really funny situation and had a happy result as well, namely no louse!! The dokter just described me some pills for the itch and some special shampoo. I didnt had to pay for the consultation, but on advise from the old lady I gave the dokter 50.000 kip (= 5 euros) as a donation. I also give the old lady a small donation, cause she was a great help!

The next day I went on a tour through the Bolaven Plateau area, which has coffee and tea plantations, waterfalls and minority villages. We were with ten people of which nine French and just me representing Holland. You would expect the French to talk only French, cause that is a bit what they are known for, but they were so considering my presence. I didn’t felt excluded at all and although it had been raining like crazy almost all day I just had an amazing time!

After being in Pakse for two nights, I left with a local bus to Champasak to see Wat Phu Champasak, which is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Laos. In Champasak itself their is nothing much to do, so me and a Portuguese girl who I met left the next day.

My next destination was Si Phan Don, or also known as the Four Thousand Islands. It was quite a right to get their; tut tuk, small boat, tuk tuk, mini bus, small boat again, cause of the flooding. You can see in the photo’s that I uploaded ;) Of the three main islands I stayed at Don Det, which is the most busy one. The first day the Portuguese girl and I went to explore the island. The water was up to our knies when walking along the coast. It took us two hours to get to the other sight of the island and use a bridge to get to another island named Don Khon. We knew it would get dark soon but we imagined their would be transport to get back to our hostel. Well we thought wrong! Their was no transportation back and it was already completely dark. We ended up walking back through rice fields, peoples backyards, but we did it. Although it was a bit scary, I had to laugh so hard that I almost pie myself :P

The Poruguese girl left the next day. I decided to rent a bike and the next day I went on a kayaking tour to see the Irraway Dolphins. Again I met some great people. I cant explain it but meeting people goes so naturally. And yeah, there have been some moments which I have been alone, but they were good as well.

I told myself before I left that I didnt want to write too long stories, but that is almost impossible. I have so much to share with you guys ;)

Right now Im in Cambodia. After crossing the border I went to Ban Lung, which is up all the way in the northeast. I wanted to do trekking up there. I ended up staying there for five days without doing trekking. Unfortunaly there were not enough participants. Instead I went on the back of a motorbike through the jungle making stops at amazing waterfalls and lakes. It was a rough ride but oh so much fun! I also spent one night camping in the jungle sleeping in a hammock. I did this all with a local guy that I met through a tour operator. He showed me all Ban Lung, got me acquinted with the local drinks and food and introduced me to his friends,  which I dearly appreciate.

The plan was to go to Kratie after that but when I arrived my bankcard was not accepted by the two only  atm’s they had. The town wasn’t really what I expected and having no money doens’t really help either. Luckely I got the offer from a really cool guy from England, Malachai is his name, to drive with him up to Phnom Penh by using a mini bus. He would just borrow me some money until we got their. I happily took his offer.  Unfortunate he had to leave today already back to England. We only got to spend yesterday and this morning, but we had a great time. We woke up early so that we could visit the killing fields of Choeung Ek. Its the place were thousand of people got executed during the Khmer Rouge time.  Pretty depressing, but a good experience to have been there.

And now Im in this internet cafe with a German girl who I met after taking a nap in the dorm where Im staying. Next time I ll try to keep my story shorter, but Im afraid that is going to be a challenging task cause of all the many things that Im experiencing and wanna share with you.

Thank you all for the lovely comments. I miss you and hope you are okay. I still have my Dutch number, so you can reach my anytime.

Many kisses