Tenerife

Farewell Cambodia, we love you so very much!

Saturday 27th November, 7.51 am

Oh great. We're in bloody Tenerife.  Welcome to Laos, Don Tet in Si Phan Don, or Four Thousand Islands, if you like.
Actually, I like Tenerife. We had a week of bonding there in January 2000 when I first moved in with Liz and Khogan. It's just that everyone has been raving on about this place and it really is just a load of guesthouses, bars and eating places.
Maybe I'm missing Cambodia already. I want to see Simon and Rachel and Ellie in Siem Reap, lovely Libby, Dolla! Mr. Lady in Phnom Penh, Tina and Jack the elephant man in Mondulkiri. The Log lady!
On our last night in Sen Monorom, post elephant sanctuary fun, we met up with Mr. Tina and made for our fave Green house bar over the road from our hotel. It's actually home to bookings for the elephant thing too. Jack, from the project, was there briefly, so we said hi and bye to him and tucked into some Amok curry before returning to our hotel balcony with some beers and Tina in tow. Liz and the brood crashed so me and the Khmer kid sat up chatting and necking that Angkor. He asked me what kind of music I played so I showed him some Cardiacs on my iPod, which he enthused about, though I think it sent him over the edge( I've witnessed this after some Cardiacs before ) and he stumbled off home soon after.
Next morning, on the coach, we bumped into Tanya from Bananas restaurant, which was a blessing cos she then kindly booked us in and saw us to a hotel she was staying at in Krate, our next and final destination in Cambodia.

By 11.30 we were in a boat on the Mekong river, watching a very rare species of river dolphin. They're absolutely beautiful creatures, looking like a cross between a dolphin with a very small Dorsal fin and a whale, grey in Colour with a bulging head.
These lot were pretty much wiped out by Khmer Rouge who used them for target practice during their stinking reign, reducing numbers from thousands, to what locals guess now to be a mere seventy five. Nice one.
We spent the evening with Tanya ( who really does look like the Log Lady in Twin Peaks ) and her friend Joe, An Australian who runs this lovely Balcony Hotel.
Woke up late, said chow, boarded minibus, crossed border, got on big bus, took small boat to island, welcome to Don Tet.

A couple of days in and we discovered it wasn't just a load of guesthouses, bars and eating places (what's so bad about that anyway Bob you miserable twat), there was a lot to be found and fall in love with here.

A bike ride on the second day came to an untimely end when Nastassja became unwell...it didn't last too long,  just a bit off Colour really.  Oskar and I continued while Liz took her back to our cabin. We saw some buffalo taking a dip in the river and a large pink pig on a lead with a saggy tail. We also had a sneaky stop at a bar and Osk had a shake and a doughnut which he took a nibble out of and left.
On the way back we saw a newly born calf, just ten minutes old!
Next day, we all set off on bikes again and cycled over a bridge to a sister island, where we found a lovely waterfall and something of a beach, though you wouldn't want to try swimming in the water.
It cost us just nine dollars a night to stay in a cabin with shower, toilet, fan etc, but eating anywhere on the island proved to be very expensive, drinking too.

We stayed for three nights in the end before bidding farewell to all the cats, kittens, cows and pigs, to begin a journey to Pakse, some three hours away.

Now you're talking. Hotel cum Indian restaurant! That is excellent! Day two here and our driver, Boh, took us on a day out to a coffee farm and the most amazing waterfall I have ever seen or swam in. Ever! Liz and I stripped and plunged into the cold but crystal clear, pure, lovely water. When we finally pulled ourselves back onto the banks, we discovered the water had washed away quite a few years. Rejuvenated, we walked back up the many steps that had lead us there, our new twenty year old skin glistening in the warm sun. Both hardly recognized us. Then we were ready for it. Egg fried rice.

Today is December 1st. Halfway house.

Location:Earth