3 Days on Don Det pt 2

Sleeping at night is rough. We have 3 of us and 2 oscillating fans, which don't seem to be doing much of anything. I haven't stopped sweating at any point since stepping foot on the island. There are few places that have AC on the island, so its a challenge to find a place to cool down. Even at night its hot and muggy. I wake up in the morning in a sweaty haze at 6am, awoken by the long boat drivers riding right by our window. Their motors sound like lawnmowers, except maybe louder! Looking back now writing this I know I'm forgetting to stay properly hydrated. A lesson I will have to learn the hard way again. Day 2 we decide to rent bikes and check out the other island that is connected by a bridge called Don Kone. We rent bikes from the hotel for $2 and take off. These are not high quality bikes. As soon as we get going my back fender falls off and rattles against the tire, Cramer's bike has no brakes and his peddle falls off, and Robin's seat won't go up so it looks like he's riding a tricycle. A relatively short ride (maybe 6 miles total) will be much more difficult. Once we pass all the little bars, restaurants, and guest houses we head into the countryside. The people here are poor.

Little shacks and farms are scattered across the countryside and big cows, water buffalo, and other animals wander where ever they please. After a 30 minute trip down a bumpy road when I'm sure our ability to have kids is diminishing with each peddle. We cross the bridge and Don Kone looks similar to Don Det, but because of its location there are fewer travelers here and seems a lot quieter. We continue and check out a small waterfall/ large rapids on the Mekong and take some pics on a beach below the falls.


We ride back with the sweat pouring down and our asses hurting. On the way back we see Adinda and Clarinde going the other way. Once we get back to the room it starts to pour for about 30 minutes. We laugh thinking about the girls trying to peddle in the rain and mud. After the rain stops Cramer and I jump in the river again. Its the only place where we can actually cool down. After dinner we just hang on the porch, drinking and listening to music. We play cards with Robin and the girls, who made it back in one piece. Netherlands plays Uruguay in the World Cup semifinals and the game is on at 1:30am. Since we are now hangin with 3 Dutch people, Netherlands is our team too. We walk to the only bar still open that's playing the game. Its crowded with Europeans and locals. Amazingly a table opens up right in front of the TV. Most people in the bar, except for a few locals are pulling for the Netherlands. The "Orange" comes through again and wins 3-2. Robin thinks we might be bringing the team good luck. We head back to the room at 4am with everyone in a tired but happy mood.

I wake up at 7am again sweating with the boats buzzing by. The hotel owners have a little puppy dog name Pancake that seems to love us. She came sneaking into the room the night before when we played cards and now she seems to have snuck in during the night and slept on a pile of Cramer's clothes. Its even more funny since Cramer is the one who probably likes dogs the least and thinks most of the dogs have rabies over here.

We grab breakfast and jump in the river again. After drinking the last 2 nights and sweating constantly I realize now I didn't drink nearly enough water. Plus the sun baking on my shoulders and head while we swim in the river isn't helping. The crazy thing is we are only going in for about 15 minutes at a time. Slowly the heat and sun is getting to me. Later in the afternoon We decide to take a trip to see another waterfall and a sunset boat ride with our Dutch friends. First we must take a boat back to the mainland and then take a mini van to the waterfall. Annie the lady from the fist night is our tour guide.

As we slowly make our way to the main land I'm finally starting to feel like I'm wilting from the sun. Once we're at the falls we jump out and take some pics. Annie brought here older sister and her son along too. They are taking pictures as well. We climb down some rocks and watch the locals fish the rapids next to the waterfalls. I'm getting waves of heat and feel light headed. We walk back up and check out the little stands they have set up for the tourits. They have stands like this set up everywhere, people selling water, food, clothes, carvings, and other things for tourists to purchase. I'm only interested in water. We make it back to the boat and its time for the sunset. The sun is almost down and Annie takes us up river a bit. We're treated to an amazing sunset as the sky turns pink and purple while huge clouds on the horizon blast lightning out of them.

By the time we get back and pay, I'm literally on fire. The few times going into the water early today got my shoulders and head burnt and the lack of water, poor sleep, and alcohol has me dehydrated. We head back to the room and I pound back a large cold water. I finally position the fan in a way where I can feel it and lay down. I continue to drink more water. Robin is going to stay up and watch the Spain vs Germany match. During the night little Pancake comes in and sleeps on Cramer's clothers again. In the morning Robin tells us Spain won 1-0, so he is pumped, because he didn't want to have to play Germany. I'm still out of it but atleast my body temp is somewhat normal. We pack all our stuff and head to the dock, for our trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We pay for our room and say goodbye to our host. He tells us to come back next year. We jump back in the long boat and say farewell to Don Det. It was fun, but overall had a slightly closterphobic feel to it. Its seems a little bit more geared for travelers between the ages of 18-25, who want to get wasted and hang out. There wasn't much to do and the heat pretty much kicked my ass. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really looking forward to a 12 hour bus ride in the AC.