Indelible Roots

The following morning I reported to the guest house where I had purchased a minivan ticket all the way to Stung Treng, Cambodia. The owner, Mr. Pon then tells me at the last minute that I would be going by motorcycle since I was the only one going. As it were, I was not surprised at having been sold one thing and receiving something completely different. So off I go on the back of a 110cc Honda with my big backpack on my back and trying to stay on as we weave around the dirt roads in a vain attempt at avoiding the bigger pot holes.

Fortunately it was only about forty-five minutes after crossing a pontoon motorcycle barge to the real minivan that would be taking me somewhere. This barge consisted of two shady wooden boats with a platform connecting the two and a motor. At the minivan I was joined by ten other tourists going in different directions. About 2/3 were going sight seeing and the rest into Cambodia. We dropped off the sight seers  while those of us crossing the border got stamped out of Lao for a one dollar administrative fee. Funny thing is I’m sure a couple I talked to who got on the boat to sight see also said they were supposed to go to Cambodia. Well, they didn’t with the rest of us.

We then switched minivans again, getting into one that pulled up with people coming from Cambodia. At the real border we all got our stamps for another one dollar fee and off we went. Only about two hours after crossing the border we arrived across the river from Stung Treng and took a ferry across for about ten cents a person. There is also a brand new bridge spanning the river that isn’t open yet. It is of Chinese construction and there is quite the debate about this. The Chinese are building a “super highway” to connect itself with all of South East Asia. My personal opinion is that it cannot be a good thing and I fear that Cambodia’s rapidly depleting natural  resources will only deplete faster with this.

In the minivan I met a trio of European travelers and we all hung out for the rest of the afternoon and evening before breaking up to go our separate ways in the morning. It was a fun group of very nice people, a German, French, Dutch, and me. We exchanged contacts and perhaps will meet again.

In Stung Treng, a sizable city nearest the Lao border, I was made aware of how clean and nice Lao was. Stung Treng like every other city or town in Cambodia is littered with trash. Rotting fruits and vegetables, empty gum wrappers, plastic wraps and empty  potato chip bags litter the streets. I had gotten used to it in my four months in Phnom Penh, but having spent an entire month wandering around, the sight was a bit shocking and disgusting. It really is invisible to the local population who have much more important things to worry about.

3/25/2008 I think.

The next day I caught the minivan to Sii Phan Don, the Four Thousand Islands in southern Loa, bordering Cambodia. About a third of us got off at Don Khong, the biggest of the many islands. I had decided to stay here as it would be easier to book a bus or van all the way to Cambodia or so I thought. There are also no banks between after Pakse until you get to Kampong Cham, just two or three hours from Phnom Penh. So I didn’t want to have to worry about catching a bus from one place to another, but rather would prefer dealing with one bus for the entire way.

We then took a long tail boat the three minutes to the island, but not before having to listen to a man trying to sell sight seeing services after we had all gotten on the boat and sat down. We were quite the captive audience then. On the other side it was quite calm and quiet, with no taxis or guest house employees mobbing us as we got off the boat. One man asked me if I wanted a room as I was walking with my backpack, but I said I was looking for a cheaper one when he quoted me 60,000 kip. He then told me the name of another one down the street that was cheaper.

Sure enough I walked down that direction, passing a young woman on the way. She then proceeded to turn around and follow me to the guest house. As expected, she worked there and showed me the room for 40,000 kip. There wasn’t another person in the house which consisted of three rooms plus the bathroom and open living room all upstairs. I then asked her for a bicycle as there was a sign saying they rented them here, but her English was as bad as my Lao and I got the point that they didn’t have any.

After dropping off my gear I walked back to the river, all of half a block and found the gal again in front of a store of some kind. She motioned to me and showed me a bicycle that was in dubious shape, but I took it anyways. Well, I should have taken it for a test ride, because aside from having good air pressure, everything else was bent or broken. It was a single speed, the pedals were very bent and wobbly, the wheels rubbed, and the right handle bar plastic had been twisted upside down and was stuck there.

But I still took it through the bumps and pot holes, getting my money’s worth until my wrists started to hurt from the bad angle. I did bike the entire bottom third of the island, probably twenty kilos at a nice leisurely pace. I would have tried to bike the entire island on a better bike, but it occurred to me that because the bike was in such bad repair it caused me to have to bike leisurely.

I ended up on the other side of the island at the biggest town on the island. I had lunch here at a restaurant on the river, looking onto Cambodia. Little boats were constantly going back and forth between the two places, obviously without regard to visas or passports. Afterwards I took the road direct to the first town instead of following the coastline. Here I found three ostriches that looked like they wanted me to shoot them. They all were standing in the shade of individual trees with their beaks open and wings drooping down.  I also saw a great example of housing and life in Lao, a poor wooden house in the middle nowhere with a huge satellite dish.

 

Back  in town I decide to don my swim trunks and go find a secluded spot to read and swim. I biked the only direction I hadn’t gone, north and after about five kilometers I gave up and turned back. The entire coastline seems to be ringed by houses and farms. I ended back in town at the wat on the coast and walked to the water from there. I walked out halfway to the next little, tiny island, but it was only thigh deep so I decided to just sit and read. Soon after two buffalo swim around the corner and come up near where I am reading. I have them a wide berth and they wandered off, but not before walking right by my bicycle and copy of the Lonely Planet. Perhaps this will be the next cover of LP Lao?

Well, I got back to reading and not five minutes later two kids come up, one little girl about five talking a mile a minute and a boy about the same age. The boy posed for me with flowers on his ears while the girl laughed away. They then jumped in the water with the little girl making funny sounds while looking at me and smiling the entire time. Another five minutes later and three more boys show up. These kids get completely naked and go swimming. Another few minutes and an additional three show up and I give up.

As I was leaving I  noticed dozens of canoes with school kids in them rowing around. I was wondering if they were doing PE and rowing around the island or if they were going home as it was nearing 5pm. I asked later and was told it was the later. I didn’t see any pimped out canoes though, but of course this is a communist country and the school kids are in uniforms.

 

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