Day Three (13/10/2024): Waterfalls and more waterfalls ( La Folie Lodge, Paske)

 

We seem to be operating on Melbourne time so many of us were up early to walk around the island - Don Daeung - where the Lodge is located. It's only 9 kms long and 3kms wide.

After waking up at 5am (!) I headed off and had an interesting time. The one road around the island was flat and sandy so easy to walk. The men I came across were reluctant to engage and didn't even make eye contact with me which was interesting. The women and children I came across greeted me with Sabaidee (hello) and smiled.

I passed a secondary school built by the Japanese but as it was Sunday morning it was uninhabited. There was a quite lovely small temple with a large gold Buddha with his hands in the 'teaching' position, some buffalos and cows grazing by the side of the road, lush green rice fields  and a restaurant with children setting up hundreds of red plastic chairs. On my way back all of the occupants of the houses lining the roads were waiting patiently with small baskets of sticky rice. Then the monks appeared in their saffron robes with their alms bowls. There were 5 guys and a couple of small boys who looked at me and smiled and swung their bowls around. I think they might be new to the monastery! A delightful way to start the day.

After breakfast we retraced our steps along the bamboo mats and precarious planks to seat ourselves on the barge and head back to the other side. 

The rest of the day was spent driving around the Bolaven Plateau in the van to see some of the waterfalls. The first two were totally opposite: Tad Fane and Tad Yuang. Tad Fane was tourist heaven. So many people it was almost impossible to see the two impressive waterfalls thundering directly from the top of a mountain to an unseen river below. We were fascinated by a triangular zipline which traversed the river and back again. Surprisingly no one in our group was interested!

 Then we went to a 'local' waterfall with very few people and no tourist amenities. We declined the invitation to walk to the bottom as it was steep and muddy, but we did enjoy the peace and quiet. 

The last one was also touristy and unfortunately almost impossible to see. To get to a viewing point there were steep stairs with branches and roots to climb over and under. After careful consideration we decided to forget the stairs and lean over the railing a bit to get some of the view.  

In between all of these we seemed to spend a long time in the van hurtling down the road. The driver did an excellent job of avoiding goats, cows, tractors, small children etc whilst he drove down the middle of the road: which seems to be the standard Asian way of driving.

Although it's interesting to drive around we were glad to arrive at a coffee plantation for lunch and a much-needed COFFEE!

To say we were keen to read the information about coffee and trek around the plantation would be a complete lie: but the guide seemed to think it was essential. How he could have ignored the weary looks on our faces is a mystery.

After lunch,  beer and enormous iced coffees we revived somewhat. 

Back in the van we headed for a 'model' village created after several of the local indigenous tribes were relocated to live together when a new dam was built. It's always slightly uncomfortable wandering around a small village looking at people's homes. The tour company does compensate them but I'm never relaxed about it. 

This community still upholds some of the animist traditions. We saw the spirit house with at least 10 buffalo skulls which were the result of annual buffalo sacrifices made to ensure the prosperity of the village.

At about 12-13 years of age chickens are sacrificed to signify girls and boys 'coming of age'. From this point they can drink alcohol and consider themselves adult and able to have sex. The consequences are many young girls of 13 or 14 become mothers. We saw a couple of young girls with babies who seemed very young for such responsibility. Whilst the government doesn't approve of these sacrifices and rituals the challenges of changing age-old traditions are many.

The last stop before home was to the Ban Houay Houn village that specialises in Katu weaving. The women were thrilled to see us and descended on us like seagulls, with baskets of woven runners, purses, tablemats etc. In a matter of minutes some of us managed to make some purchases whilst fighting off the hordes of sellers!

I took some photos of Anne and I with our purchases and their weavers.

The master weaver was an older woman demonstrating her craft.

By this stage we were exhausted, hot, sweaty and desperate for a swim and a gin and tonic. 

So with great joy we headed for home: back on the boat and straight to the pool after a quick change!

Dinner and bed never looked so good! 

Your tired and contented correspondent 

Dianne