Cop Preah/Dong Deang

Cop Preah, or God's island, is an island on the Mekong, 6 hours away from the mainland and civilization. We took a long boat ride up the slow moving Mekong, had a picnic lunch on the beach, and took a dip in the refreshing water before reaching God's Island. We did our first service project on the island. Our job was to build a garden and plant it by the end of our stay. We succeded with flying colors. We used their tools, which was more of a challenge because they were pretty rural, and dug up hard earth for hours. It only took us two days to finish the garden. Manual labor felt good. It got the blood flowing. But it was, of course, extremeley hot. We took many dips into the river to cool off. One day we went out on a boat ride to try and spot the river dolphins. We did see a few, but they were far away and hard to spot. We were lucky to see them at all though. They are diminishing in numbers because of fishing. The NGO we worked with on the island, CRDT, worked mainly on informing locals and tourists of this problem and explaining how the dolphins are crucial to the river. Tehy are working with the locals to find better methods of farming and fishing to reduce the impact on the dolphins. The food on the island was the only problem we had by the end of our staay. We had the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It included rice, morning glory, and eggs. Morning glory is their main plant produce. It is very long and stringy and is bitter without any sauce. But they prepared it well. One night we played volleyball and all the locals came to watch. Volleyball is popular here. Our host families are very kind. The only problem is that you are constantly awakened during the night by roosters crowing, dogs barking, and any other sort of farm animal that likes to make noise for no apparent reason. It's hard to get used to. But it was fun and a good place to stay for our final days in Cambodia. The next day we crossed to border and had to say goodbye to our Camboida leader, Mara. He was a great guide, and a better friend. I know we all already miss him. And then, before we had time to let the fact that our Camboida trek was complete, we entered Laos in a minibus eating sticky rice in a bamboo tube!
I really like Laos. It definitely has a different atmosphere than Cambodia. I think the land just emanates peace and tranquility. The Laos national phrase here, dubbed by the french, is "no worries." And they certainly live up to it. The people look different too. They look more chinese while Cambodians looked more Phillipino. And they act different. They have the same amount of kindness and generosity as Cambodians, but you can tell they aren't as eager to be your best friend. Which I think I like. They give you space. But I will have to work harder if I want to have deep connections with the people. Especially in my homestay. We started our 6 week stay in Laos on an island called Dong Deang. The purpose was to relax and get used to Laos before we start really moving. It was wonderful. I woke up every morning, went for a run with the girls, ate, we grouped up in the morning for some lessons, and then we had teh rest of the day to ourselves to explore or relax or whatever. They really know how to chill here. I really enjoyed jsut settling into a routine, like I would at home. Our family served us the most delicious foods, which always followed with some delicious fruit. Every day involved swimming in the Mekong. We got some great pictures of us jumping over the sun by doing that camera trick. Every day the sun would set in the exact same place over the mountains. Yes, there are mountains here! So nice. I didn't realize how much I had missed them. They do so much for my eyes haha. Most days we played cards under the house in the afternoon to escape the heat. But some days we went on walks just to explore. We had a really nice walk the other day and walked on the beach on the way back and ran into the water. It really is hard not to wake up with the sun. The locals go to bed early, and wake up early. I'm surprised how easily I've been able to adapt to it. But on our morning runs we always got to see the sun rise over the river which was stunning. One day we went off the island to go hiking in a national park. We hiked to a stuppa and a place where the Buddha walked. And we explored the jungle a little. We saw this really cool green snake. And they have elephants for the tourists to ride on, so I got to touch one! We didn't ride them, but they were just waiting there so we got to go up and touch them. Elephants have a very tough, leathery feel with huge hairs. They are so huge! And these are just asian elephants. Much smaller compared to the giant african elephant. I can't even imagine how miniscule I would feel next to an african elephant. Last night we had a bonfire on the beach to celebrate our time on the island and our departure. We have a day here in Pakse before we head up to Pak Kek to strat our three day trek. That's all for now!