Back to the mainland: This is a pretty boring page, sorry

January 20, 2015

The next morning I thought it best I leave Don Det and go back to Laos, so I packed up my things and vacated my bungalow. The woman who owned the bungalow asked me where I was going and I told her Don Som, to which she replied "no bungalow, no guesthouse on Don Som!" This may have been intended as an attempt to get me to stay longer, but it had quite the opposite effect on me, and only made me want to get back to Don Som more. I must have left quite an impression on the woman, however, because about half an hour after she'd watched me cycle off I cycled back past her again (I was looking for bread, it's a small island) and she, without a hint of recognition, cried out "hello sir, you need bungalow? Bungalow here."

Someone was out partying late last night

I met these newly arrived Korean cyclists with their cute team jerseys

There was a ferry direct from Don Det to the mainland, which would have been a logical route for me to take as I next wanted to go south a little further to see the waterfalls at Khone Phapheng. However, there was a queue of backpack-laden white tourists stretching back across the beach all waiting for this boat. Which itself looked small and cramped and would likely be quite expensive and awkward for a man with a bicycle and five bags. The temptation to simply roll my bike onto the moving jetty on the other side of the beach and be back on the lovely Don Som in moments was too much, and that is what I did. The boatman asked if I liked Don Det. "Not really. Too many falang!" I said, "take me back to Don Som!" He smiled and shook my hand.

In the name of variety I took a different route back through Don Som, staying on more inland tracks at first. It was as I remembered it; a beautiful and peaceful corner of paradise.

What I like about agriculture here is that they leave some trees standing in the middle of the fields.And interesting trees too

It was difficult to find anywhere to swim without a curious audience

As usual the buffaloes had all the best spots

Poverty here, yes, but plenty of satellite dishes too

Having taken the ferry back over to Don Khong I then cycled over the big bridge to the mainland, and then cycled south on more sandy tracks by the river. Eventually these ran out and I had to join the main #13 highway going south towards Cambodia, although there was almost no traffic and being back on a paved road was quite nice. I was going south to visit Khone Phapheng Waterfalls, the so called 'Jewell of the Mekong', but it was getting quite late by the time I got to the turn-off. I cycled down it anyway and came to an entrance gate where I was stopped and asked to pay 55,000 kip ($6.80) to enter to see the waterfalls. According to Suzy and Dino's 2007 Lonely Planet, the entrance fee was $0.90. I guess you can always tell when a country has a booming tourism industry, when the cost of visiting tourist attractions increases 750% in seven years. I laughed at the guys, turned my bike around, and cycled back to the main road.

There was a restaurant on the corner of the highway 13 and the waterfall turn-off, and I stopped here to eat some dinner. I was still planning to go to the waterfall, but it was too late now and the light would be much better in the morning, so I planned to eat some food and then camp nearby so as to be able to get up early and visit. As I was sitting in the restaurant I noticed two touring cyclists coming along the road from Cambodia and I ran over to say hello. They were a pretty old French couple that had cycled here from France, but they spoke very little English. They were quite nice but wanted to go on and sleep in a hotel, although they also decided that they would come back to visit the falls in the morning.

The proprietor of the restaurant was an extremely entertaining man whose name was pronounced 'Dare' although I doubt that this could be the correct spelling. Dare spoke very fast and could speak some English, although not very much, and our conversations were filled with moments of hesitation and confusion. He was very friendly though, and invited me to camp at his house, which was adjoined to the restaurant. This was a kind offer, but after a couple of sleepless nights at the bungalow I was very, very tired and wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible. I eyed the speakers on the wall of the restaurant nervously. Such establishments in South East Asia have a habit of playing music extremely loudly all evening. I wanted to ask Dare if there was going to be loud music played here, but before I had the chance he had already disappeared to switch on the loud music. Once it started I made my excuses and left, and found a lovely quiet field instead, where I slept extremely well.

Dare demonstrating the correct use of his slingshot. If only I wasn't so tired...

Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 36,011 km (22,363 miles)

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