Island Life

I've spent the last four days on one of the "4,000 islands" in southern Laos. All I can say is - I DONT WANT TO LEAVE! Unfortunately, I am restrained by my visa which expires tomorrow.

Don Det is considered the more "party" island, but that is just compared to the other island which is nearly silent. I am staying on the southern part of Don Det which is removed from the bars and really chill. There are two other guys we have been hanging out with - Ryan and Lucas. Ryan is actually a co-owner, so to speak. He donates/invests money into the guesthouse (Mr. Vong's its called) and into new properties the family is working on. Interesting character. Lucas is here for a holiday but has been there for 3 weeks. It's been a nice little family of people to spend time with. I am really enjoying it. I feel so comfortable and relaxed. I have a small bungalow to myself ($3 a night). It's completely bare bones but I am loving it - cold showers with water that comes straight for the river, electricity from the generator only from 6-10pm, so no fans (let alone A/C) and 90+ degree weather into the night. Being completely sweaty and dirty is a way of life. It's funny how when you dont have the option to be "comfortable" (clean, cool), it's much easier to accept. Anywhere else if the weather was 100 degrees, I would be focused on when I could get a nice shower and some A/C. Not an option here, so you just go with it. Both days we spent a fair amount of time walking around and seeing things - going the perimeter of the island, seeing some nearby waterfalls, and peppering the walking with tubing, swimming in the river or taking a boat around. We did a nice river tour yesterday with a local that Ryan knows. As expected it involved a lot of bear lao and lao lao :) We actually went to cambodia, you can pay 10,000 kip to sit at this bar on the cambodia side (a shack in the middle of nothing else on the beach), then we took the boat to an old French dock that is no longer in use and saw a beautiful sunset. I feel lucky to have been friends with people who are staying here long term (Ryan is practically a local). It's really changed my experience.

Staying here has been replenishing and inspiring. I want to stay on a more bare bones rustic path for the next leg of my trip through Cambodia. You get a lot more out of it and I think you learn more lessons. Somehow good for the soul.