I'm on my way home

I'm in a beautiful island on one of the largest rivers in the world and all I want to do is come home. I just feel drained and like I don't have the energy to go and see anymore tourist sights. I wanted to try to see a temple thats near here, a plateau thats said to be beautiful and one of the largest waterfalls in southeast asia but I just don't have the energy. I don't want to go see some sights and not appreciate them because I'm too drained and really should be home resting for the next adventure.

I'm not planning on quitting my travels all together. At home I am going to festivals, camping, going on hot springs road trips, and whatever else comes my way. So I'm going to continue my travels just within my own country and doing activities that I know I love. Also I do plan to continue traveling every winter as long as possible, and continue to write blogs about every place I go. I think I will be a better traveler and have more fun when I'm re-energized and ready for new cultures. Maybe next year I can make it 6 months.

I haven't done much on Don Det due to the lack of energy and general lack of interest to go see some sights verses swim and read. I've made a routine of waking up and going to one of the restaurants next to the beach and ordering an iced Lao coffee and reading. Then ordering breakfast when I'm hungry enough, and go swimming at the beach when I'm hot and sweating. I still go to the reggae bar at night, and its always packed every night until they shut off the lights at 11, or 10:45.

The water buffalo relaxing in the water agian

I like being in a place that has limited electricity. It attracts a certain kind of crowd that I really get along with. Plus I don't really need the power, during the day you can swim, and after 11 you hang out at the beach with a fire or at bungalows with candles. But they are installing power lines right now to bring 24 hour power to this island. The lines are actually already up and complete and power is said to be here anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 months. It makes me sad because I'm worried about how this place with change, but also happy because I got to experience it.

The view from my bungalow

One very strange thing that has happened is that there is another Andy from Seattle here at Don Det. He actually left this morning but the odds of two Andy's from Seattle that don't know each other at all being in Laos are slim to none. It came up because a guy I met the day before said "Hi, Andy from Seattle" to me and I came over the beach and started hanging out with him, and then the other one just walked up and said "I'm Andy from Seattle what do you want". I've hung out with him a bit and he's a good guy, strange coincidence though.

One day I did do something here and went tubbing down the river. It really was not that exciting but it was nice to do something. At my usual coffee and breakfast place in the morning some travelers asked if I wanted to go and I said it sounded great. A boat took us up the river and then we floated down near one big island. We basically floated back towards Don Det and the beach and the guy in the boat just waited till he saw us and zipped in the boat across the river to pick us up.

I've been hanging out with different people almost every day because I've been with people that have been here for a while and are leaving. So each day I meet some new people and hang out with them periodically throughout the day. I've gotten tired of all the normal travel talk because its all the same. So I just hang out and don't talk much, speak up when the conversation is interesting but otherwise just relax. Its still nice to be with people though and most people understand how I feel because like Cambodia many of the travelers here have been out for several months.

Sunset tonight from the Indian food resturant

So today I bought a ticket for Bangkok tomorrow. I'm just going straight there and buying a ticket home. The boat leaved at 11 am tomorrow and I get into Bangkok at 6 am the following day. Then I'll just take care of the ticket thing as fast as possible and hang out with Moo until I fly home. Thanks to everyone that have followed my blog, its been a nice place to express my opinions and tell my story. Until Bangkok, peace and love to all!