Day 219 - Monkey Business

I spent the morning playing dice and cards on the restaurant terrace with our guesthouse owner. Cz spent his morning trying to mend his hiking boots and lounging in his hammock. This is fairly typical for a morning on Don Det. By the time we finally managed to pry ourselves away, it was nearly 2PM, and we were hungry. We wandered into town in search of a good lunch. An open-air restaurant beckoned with low tables and cushioned seating . As we sipped our drinks and waited for our meal, a small animal darted across the opposite row of tables. I was about to comment to Cz on what a strange mew the 'kitten' had when the 'kitten' made a flying leap into a startled Cz's arms. The opposable thumbs and prehensile tail explained why it sounded most un-kittenlike.

After getting some scratchies from Cz, the 'kitten' hopped onto our table, pulled the straw out of my drink, and proceeded to slurp up most of my lemon shake. Common in the islands are 'happy shakes', fruit smoothies spiked with ganja. Luckily mine was not of the happy variety, or that would have been one stoned little monkey.

He managed to evade capture for a few more minutes before his owner was able to bribe him home with a handful of fruit.

Deciding that the monkey was enough excitement for one day, Cz retreated to his hammock. I rented a bicycle and spent the afternoon pedaling the length of our island, and then across the defunct French railroad bridge onto Don Khon, the next island over. Don Khon is even more laid-back than Don Det, where water buffalo and chickens outnumber people. Towards the southern end of Don Khon, the Mekong drops almost 100m over the span of about 3 football fields. The falls themselves are fairly impressive, but more impressive are the flimsy bamboo bridges built out into the raging water. During low water, brave Lao fishermen balance on these bridges to set fish traps in the rushing water. On the far side of the falls, the river has cut a deep chasm in the surrounding rock, making an impressive funnel of roaring blue-green water between nearly vertical black limestone walls.

Further down the island, the scrubby forest opens out onto a huge white sand beach. Understandably, the beach is popular with locals and foreigners alike for volleyball, hackeysack, badminton, and other games. The rocks off the beach also make a natural green lagoon, perfect for an afternoon paddle. Had we not already seen river dolphins in Kratie, boats also run from this beach to another pocket of them further up the Mekong.

Not wanting to get caught in the dark with my bicycle, I only spent a little while playing at the beach before turning homeward. The pedal back was entirely peaceful, with hardly another person in sight, and my tires making almost no sound on the soft sand roads.