Don Det

A very pretty place to spend some quiet time, no power most of the day means the usual noise that surrounds "traveller haunts" is missing, which is something you only realise after a day or two of being near Khmer or Laos Karaoke TV!

The island is connected to another of the 400 islands by an old French bridge, we got the Aussie guy to drive along the rim (he made it , sorry hehehe)

The waterfall at the end of the road made the long cycle worth while but i guess it was the people and the place itself that made Don det so relaxing

Mr and Mrs Egg's baby (possibly the most photographed baby on the island, specialised in looking cute and picking cats up by the neck)

The island was a mix of traditional Laos farmers and fisherman and guesthouses. You were woken at 5am by cockerills crowing and water bufflao "mooing"? The ever present chickens and multitude of cats and dogs made me feel very much at home.

The cats and dogs not only dont fight but leave all the other animals alone?! not sure how they do this as they are not "owned" by any one family rather just live in the village.

Watched a family transplanting rice shoots for a day and will never complain about how a task i have been given is a "back breaker" almost non stop the group of mainly woman moved up and down transplanting shoots. Apparently some of the local farmers felt the the rainy season had come early last month because of a week of steady rain and planted their crops. They are now working hard to keep them from dying as the ground hardens into a brick like quality. A good example how hand to mouth the locals live that they were carrying buckets by hand up from the river to irrigate their crops!

Saw what Lao kids do for fun they bomb each other off a tree over the mekong and race cars made of empty plastic bottles. Less pleasent i guess they also catch birds and make pets of them by tying their legs with string.

The speed of life is much slower in Laos it seems and you only realise it when you stop shooting from one destination to the next and watch.

The other aspect of life that i guess you see more often is how families tend to be all together, so that grandparents are there (often as babysitters and helpers) as well as the extended family.

The ever present Buddist monks who must wonder why all the travellers jump out and photograph them whenever they walk along the street in a line with their umbrellas up. (it is a shot you see in every travellers gallery! lol mine's from Angkor)

Will hopefully have some pics of hill tribes weaving (maybe even buy some textiles) waterfalls and elephants next time

See you soon