Four Thousand Islands - Don Det

After our cave adventure, Mariah and I packed our bags and headed south to the 4,000 Islands in Southern Laos where the Mekong stretches up to 14km and creates little island groups perfect for watching the world float by.

On our way to the islands, we met up with a Canadian couple who soon became our travel companions through Laos and Cambodia. Cory and Stacey just rapped up 3 years of travel - 1.5 years in Korea teaching English and 1.5 years in Africa (Zambia and Angola) working with the NGO People to People.

In Don Det, the popular backpacker island on the boarder with Laos and Cambodia, we also ran into our Lao companions from the "slow boat" to Luang Prabang: Fauzia, Dean, Dave, Danny and Nicolai. Time in Don Det seemed to stand still as we took afternoon bike trips to surrounding islands, beaches and waterfalls (more like extreme rapids than waterfalls). We also frequented the local bakery - a rarity on an island with no electricity and only accessible by boat. The bakery was run by an Australian guy who came to Don Det for a week and ended up staying for three years. His specialties were pumpkin burgers on fresh foccacia and carrot walnut muffins. The bakery was a great place for me to set up our backgammon board and give out lessons while Mariah soaked up the chat time.

Aside from our bakery socializing, the majority of our 3 days on these islands was spent sitting in hammocks watching the river flow by wishing that our time in Laos didn't have to end. It is during our travels in this wonderful country that Mariah and I truly felt separated from our lives back at home - we were able to fully embrace the travel lifestyle and spent lots of time reflecting, philosophizing and relaxing.

More so for me, it has been hard to just live in the moment when I know there is so much going on in the world with family, friends and business. And in my desire to not miss anything, I have sometimes felt like I have not fully given into the lifestyle of a year abroad. The struggle to stay in the moment and not think too much about what we are missing at home continues to be a challenge, but I (and we) are getting better at it. In the words of our friend Ruth back at home, it is taking in the memorable snapshots of life and travel that will be so beneficial when we are back at home/work and need to take a quick mental vacation. :)