don khon. laos. january 31st – february 1st. 2009

The last stop in Laos before we cross into Cambodia. Picking the southern most island, it is rustic here, full of people taking their time to travel south east Asia. We are here only for one day, our objective, to see the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins that live in a very small area of the Mekong (remaining population approx. 12 in this area and estimated 7,000 worldwide). We hop on the bikes and make our way slowly. A stop at the bridge built by the French  and the old locomotive sitting on our side of it. Really overwhelmingly beautiful waterfall, ‘simply through its majesty and power and the reverence it inspires in those of us here to witness them’. Lingering for some time, drawn to this place, it is hard to pull away, but it is mid afternoon and the dolphins are so close. We bike, uncertain of the path, but find the beach and the boatmen is waiting. A woman joins us as we make our way to the inlet, which is the boarder between Cambodia and Laos. We join other in a small rock outcrop and my disappointment at not staying on the water is overcome when the dolphins make their shy appearance, in front of us. They are several 100m away, but  I am sure there were 3 if not 4 of them, and we sit for well over an hour watching them play. It is brief glimpses and we all watch silently and carefully, really honored to be seeing them. We part ways for now and enjoy a really beautiful ride back as the sun starts to set on our last night in Laos. Dinner, careful packing for our boarder crossing tomorrow and the generator shuts down around 10pm (as it does every night), and Don Khon is embraced by the night. Tomorrow, we leave for Cambodia, tonight, we sleep.

w r i t t e n  b y  l a u r e l