The Saturday morning of our second teaching weekend (we were going to be leaving for class two hours later), I was out on my bungalow porch meditating at 6:45am, when Lies came out to her porch and told me that the Translator had just called, and that our weekend of teaching was cancelled, the reason given- Mr. Bunchan was out of town. We were both stunned, and didn't really understand why this meant we couldn't teach, but, I suggested we just go to breakfast and re-think the next few days. For me, it also meant re-thinking how long I wanted to stay on the islands, as my original aim was to teach as well as relax.. I still had much to see in Cambodia and Thailand! Later that day, I decided that I would leave in the next 3-4 days.
We had some breakfast and tea, and I said "Well, I'm going back to bed. We'll see what happens later". And I proceeded to sleep from 9am-1pm in my porch hammock. Wow! Having spent most of the day asleep, and wanting to make the most of these final few days, I said to Lies "Let's go see the Irrawadee Dolphins!" The Irrawadee Dolphins are a special dolphin that only live in a certain part of the Mekong River between Laos and Cambodia. They are rarely sighted and only briefly so if seen, but, it seems to be a rite of passage of all tourists coming to the islands.
So, we rode our bikes to a rather isolated beach where there are small boats, and hired a boatman to take us to Cambodia about a twenty minute boat ride away, where we climbed the stairs to land, paid $2, and sat on a bench and saw dolphins! Many of them, and for quite a long time! It was so neat and a special little outing, especially since we didn't really expect to see dolphins. I learned my first Cambodian/Khmer word from the kind-eyed Cambodian ranger there "Ha-khun," which means "thank you." I was already feeling excited to go to Cambodia after this brief encounter.
The next day I woke up early again, ate breakfast, meditated and yoga-d, and at 11am went back to my hammock and slept until 4pm! Wow! I was quite tired from waking up too early for no reason the whole past week, and this was after already feeling exhausted from so much travel before arriving in the 4,000 islands- I was finally catching up.
For my second to last day, Lies and I made a trip to ''The Big Island" of Dong Khong, which was a 2 hour boat ride away. It was a great day- we both started out kind of sleepy, but as the day progressed we became enlivened. We rented bicycles and cycled around the entirety of the island which was at least 30km if not more, and it was so beautiful! More cows and water buffaloes and local villagers and children, but more, and bigger fields, and bigger houses, and almost NO TOURISTS. The landscape changed many times, and so did the weather. The people were so friendly, and all waved and shouted ''Sa-bai-dee!" We went through bright sunshine and then cloudy rainy drops. We visited two temples, and watched some local Lao kids playing hide and seek in one of them, and had a great photo opportunity there- and everywhere!
The next day was my last day, and it was pretty low-key. I took care of loose ends, did a final little bike ride around the island on my favorite paths and backroads, got a massage from a local married couple on Don Khon (who tag-team massage their clients since the wife is pregnant, either so he can help her to take the brunt of the work, or for her to help train him in time for the baby to come, I wasn't quite sure which) took some more photos, and started packing and reading about where I would go in Cambodia.
I met Lies for dinner, and we both had little surprise gifts from each other, which was so sweet, as we had come to know each other quite well over this past two and a half weeks, and were similarly thoughtful to each other and had grown quite close. I am really happy that I met Lies- I learned a lot from her- we learned a lot from each other! We gained much support and appreciation from each other, are both on similar paths of personal growth and self-discovery, and were a great team in teaching and otherwise. It was really sweet having a female companion that was such a kindred spirit, and I am quite grateful.
The next morning, I woke up early as usual, so I would have time to meditate and stretch before breakfast and leaving the country to Cambodia after 6 weeks in Laos (this was a routine that I finally started once I had gotten to the 4,000 islands, as influenced by Lies. I had lost my practice for a while there during my travels!) I had a final breakfast with Lies, had a fun little photo shoot with Meow and her sister as well as their mother. Also, before I left, the mother and two sisters had a little ceremony/ritual for me, where they each tied a white piece of string around my wrist, and said a blessing in Lao, and then in English, wishing me good luck on my travels. It was quite touching. Then, the boatman who had been taking us everywhere these past two weeks "Mr Sien" arrived to take me away on the boat to the mainland, to catch my bus.
I hugged everyone, and Lies and the two sisters followed me to the boat, and they waved and waved and waved until I could only see hands waving from behind some trees, until I could not see them anymore. We were all smiling and laughing and doubling over and waving- it was a sweet sweet parting, and while I knew that I would miss them, I could feel the love carrying me to my next destination.
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