PAKSE – BAN KHON TAI ISLAND

No tām uz divām lielākajām var pārcelties – Don Khong ir lielākā no tām un vairāk tūristu apmeklēta, tāpēc izvēlējāmies otru, kura atrodas pašos dienvidos, vien nieka 10 kilometru attālumā no Kambodžas robežas. Sākumā domājām celties pāri ar močiem, kas teorētiski būtu iespējams, nāktos vien pacīnīties, močus ceļot laivās. Tomēr, uzzinājuši, ka salu divu stundu laikā var šķērsot ar kājām, atmetām šo domu. Nācās vienīgi atrisināt jautājumu kur atstāt aparātus un bagāžu prombūtnes laikā, bet arī tas nebija sarežģīti – ciematā Ban Nakasang, no kura tālāk norisinās kustība uz salu, vietējais komersants vārdā misters Džej, kurš arī ir attīstījis transporta biznesu ar laivām pār upi, par $2 nevilcinoties piedāvā novietot tehniku savā mājā. Tā kā garāžas nav, tad vienīgā telpa ir dzīvojamā istaba, kur moči tiek novietoti goda vietā blakus

We plan to go to the one of the two biggest: since Don Khong is bigger and also more popular among tourists, we choose the smaller one which lies some ten kilometers away from the border of Cambodia. First we wanted to take our bikes with us, which in theory is possible, we’d just need to lift them to a boat somehow; however, later, we find out the island is crossable by feet in two hours. So, we decide to leave the bikes, the only question is: where at? This is easily solvable one, too. A local guy from the village Ban Nakasang, named Mr. Jay who owns the boat station here, allows us to place the bikes in his house for $2. He doesn’t have a garage, so the equipment is placed right in the room, next to the TV and a shelf with the family pictures. Himself, Mr. Jay feels very proud of such an opportunity since the crowd gathers around his house immediately to see the wonders of Western civilization. 

We get to the island within twenty minutes with Mr. Jay’s boat we’ve rented for $6. I assume the price was twice too high, however, this time we decided not to bargain. The Eastern side of the island is covered with tired bungalows, so we ask our captain to drift a bit further and at the bridge built by French we stop. There is a place named “River Garden”. Sounds nice, and there are twenty more minutes to go to the beautiful rapids stretched across Mekong. Now, when water level is high, they are especially impressive. Allegedly, also limnetic dolphins live in this river; right now they are trying to stay away from the rapids, though. There are very few tourists around. We meet a German professional bagpacker named Sasha who travels for nine years already and whose goal is to visit all the countries in the world. Only forty-nine have left. His monthly budget is $100, which means about $3 per day, so he tries to save on everything. He rather goes around a tickets seller through the scrub than pays fifty cent national fee for crossing the bridge. A weird person. In the evening, Mr. Jay, the owner of our bungalow offers us an entertainment: to drift down the river with the pneumatic cameras and then jump off the bridge. Sounds tempting; however, Lonely Planet says that there are crocodiles in this part of Mekong. Mr. Jay laughs loudly and says that all the crocodiles are scared by tourists long ago. 

Whom are we supposed to believe? The stream is quite forceful here, so we have to additionally scull with our hands not to get drifted to the middle of the river. The bridge is about five meters high, the stream is muddy and furious, and we feel a bit scared. „Don’t worry!” says Mr. Jay and goes down first. I, as a natural born guy from Kuldiga, a Latvian rapids city, who has done this for many times, can’t hold off, either. Janis follows me, too. By the supper we also get to see coconut gathering technique: a guy puts a loop made of an easy scarf around his feet and in a minute he is on ten meters high palm-tree. We are trying to repeat this trick, but somehow it doesn’t work.