This morning we took a tuk tuk ride to Kampi to see the Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong. The tuk tuk driver was the manager of the Balcony Hotel where we had dinner the night before. His English was excellent as the guy that owned the hotel was Australian (though unfortunately he died 6months ago from"smoking and drinking too much". When we returned to our hotel the manager there got very angry with us for booking with someone else so made some excuses and scurried off to bed before he had a chance to continue with his lecture on how we had offended him.
The tuk tuk ride took about an hour and was a great way to see the riverside lifestyle. There is both sides of life here - the haves and the have nots, but it is still basic living for all bar a few.
We paid $9US each which is a set fee to hire a boat a driver to take us around for 1.5 hours. We saw quite a few of these threatened species but you have to be quick as they barely come out of the river and as the Mekong is a muddy yellow colour you have no visability below the water line.
Our tuk tuk driver organised for us to get picked up by a local share mini bus between 12 & 12:30, and when we were still standing on the side of the road at 12:45 we were starting to think about options for plan B. Luckily it arrived 5mins later and we became the 22 & 23 passengers in the 14 seat mini van on our way to Strung Treng. It wasn't as bad as it sounds although I was balanced on the edge of 2 seats with a 12cm gap between both seats (and one seat was lower than the other). This is so they can fit more people than the 3 seats per row. I had thought it would be hot and smothering inside with that many people however with the windows open it was quite cool and breezy. We did note that no one ate or drank on the bus. But everyone got out at the allocated rest stop (small shop on the side of the road with tall weeds growing beside it to provide modesty to those needing a toilet break). Back on the bus and Tracey and I were the only one's to change seats, everyone else went back to where they were sitting no matter how uncomfortable. Couldn't imagine this happening in other Asian countries. We also did count ourselves very lucky as other mini buses that went past had a lot more people in them (and on the roof). They are a great way to travel if you want to get somewhere quickly as they go faster than the buses. Are half the price and don't have long pit stops.
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