day 2 I took a walk mid morning along the water, winding through various homes and bungalows for rent. I got to the ferry station which also acts as the cheapest place to buy tickets to anywhere (the further you go from here the more expensive, at my bungalow ticket to Pakse is 70,000 compared to 40,000 here). I first took the main path which turned off to the right and was dusty and getting very hot due to lack of cover, but changed my mind and came back as I had seen motor bikes turning off left through a gateway. Following this path I was walking past local dwellings, very basic ground level yard and a wooden home on top of 4 meter high stilts. I saw a fisherman (Pow) in his yard, beneath the house mending his net and I approached requesting to take his photo which he accepted. then I started to learn how to do what he was doing, edging the net for attaching weights. he made it look very easy and was pretty quick using this threading/knotting tool made of wood. I tried this for couple of hours, had a little success but at times I was missing loops having to go back and redo them. he used his teeth for cutting the plastic thread very easily. we had a little food with his wife and couple of boys, sticky rice eaten by hand dipped in various spicy sauces and a small fish shared amongst all. he left me to get on with the net and went away on his bike for a while. the area was quite dark due to lack of electric light and I was struggling to see the loops of the fine net. I spotted this thicker net on the side and he showed me how to cast it which was not so easy. you gather most of the net in your right hand, put a portion of the net on your right elbow and hold a small portion with your left hand so that inner edge of the net is on your left forarm. then you swing this from right to left throwing the whole thing forward in a way that it opens flat before it hits the ground/ surface of the water. the net opened up to 2x2 meters in size. I practiced this a few times and was gradually getting better. This is actually done when you can see school of fish, I had thought you just threw it in and pulled out whatever came. we visited a friend of his and headed along the path with nets, 3 boys, his friend (Lam) and 3 spear guns made of wood. Lam spent some time on top of a tall tree, standing on a branch no thicker than my wrist, spotting fish. at one point one of the spearguns went off accidentally and luckily it was facing the water, those things can be quite dangerous obviously. here kids are swimming and playing in the water and fishing from very early age and are trusted to do these things. they cast nets across the river and spent some time diving and trying to spear fish, but no luck at all today (only for the fish). We had a coconut at Lams.

In the evening I set out to find a nice spot to watch the sunset and ended up in a restaurant with a nice veranda overlooking the water, food was not great but the scenery was. Daniel also turned up and I also got talking to and invited Emily (french) to join us. she had been ill a while and as we talked it seemed that some of the tiredness and stuff I had struggled with was quite common amongst long-term travellers, pushing too hard to see as much as possible, the loneliness.

The next morning, well actually by the time we had had breakfast and agreed what we were doing, including Emily finding herself a bungalow overlooking the river, it was lunch time. we negotiated a boat to give us a tour of the islands for 3 hours, I also had a couple of swims, emily does not swim and has had bad experience of water in the past. after my first swim I also piloted the boat for about half an hour which was interesting. In the evening I visited Emily and regretted not having a veranda overlooking the river, it was lovely and very few mosquittoes. Her neighbours, a nice coupe, were Sebastien (French) and Liz (Irish but spoke good French which was really nice for Emily considering she had been feeling down a few days). We chatted for sometime and went for dinner and I managed to have this lentil and pumpkin curry with sticky rice, best meal of the last few months by far. Sebastien and Liz are heading to Cambodia in the morning. I am seriously considering leaving too to go to Pakse. In the morning however I changed my mind as I must find a way of controlling my urge to keep moving without seeing enough of a place or resting sufficiently. My next door neighbours who are an Italian/Polsih couple have been ill for a while, he has had an ameabic illness for a few months, they have hardlyleft their room since I have been here. They tell me about the island and places to see, so I rent a bicyle and set out about 10.30, it is already pretty hot. The bicycle is one of these shopper/upright models which are not very quick and I realise it is probably the best thing for me to slow down and look around and enjoy the day. I cycle for about 30 minutes untile I get to the bridge connecting Dondet and Donkhum. On the otherside of the bridge there is a cafe/bungalows run by some Lao and one Germab guy (Berliner but has been here for the last 8 months trying to make a go of it). I order a cheese and baguette but am a little disappointed to be given this pack of soft cheese in foil, I had somehow hoped for chedder or similar. It is difficult to find cheese in south east asia as I discovered in China too. The German tells me I will be charged for crossing the bridge (it is written on a board and you are issued a ticket but according to some traveller it is not legal requirement). I ride the bike across a very bumpy bridge and am stopped and given a ticket for  20000 (5000) for locals, one motorbike and two riders on it whizz past without paying as I am haggling with the men at the post.

I turn off right of the bridge and follow the path for sometime until I come up to a place where you can see but unfortunately can not go to couple of waterfalls where I am greeted and I buy a cold coconut to drink and eat the insides. She is very good with the machette, and her man offers to put my bottle of water in the fridge to cool, nice touch. I ride on and get onto this awfully bumpy and seemingly endless path which leads to the beach and boat station for visiting Irriwadi dolphins (rare). It was a hot, hard and boring ride but there was no going back. By the time I get there I am feeling sore. In Lao unlike Cambodia, if you want service or want to buy something it is you who has to go the the salesperson, as they dont seem that bothered, even the beggars or tuk-tuk drivers just sit there and wait. So I ask around and have to disturb the boatman from his card game and find that the next trip is at 3, it is 2 p.m. now. At this point Petra (Austrian) arrives for the same purpose so we go to get a drink while waiting, she has come through a much kinder path. I order some springrolls which are delayed so much that I have to come and eat them after my dolphin visit, they were being made fresh. The dollphin visit, we are taken out, two of us in one boat (60000 per boat) and as we approach the dolphin area the engine is switched off and we drift, occasionally being powered by the oar of the boatman guiding us in the direction of where the dolphins are showing some activity. we stay about 90 minutes which is good, see some dolphins rising to the surface and vanishing agian, very difficult to photograph as you never know where they are appearing next and they disappear as quickly as they rise, but I do get one or two photos glimpsing their backs.

After sharing my springrolls with Petra we head back along a generally comfortable path through some very scenic areas. at one point we are going past a brown pig tied to a tree and she is really complaining/grunting. I stop, the water trough is dry, so I pour some water in there which she drinks and is quiet again. I realise that I know Pigish.

In the evening I have a swim in the water which is slightly cooler now and am surprised by being carried down-river by the water and struggle a little. I settle for som peanuts later, it has been a warm day and dont feel like eating much, I had hoped to have the lentil and pumpkin curry again.

day 5

About 9.30 I have a dip in the river and wash myself like the locals, they bathe in the river even if they have piped water in the building (like my landlady, I however guess that the water in the pipes is actually pumped from the river and supplied from tanks to the bathrooms anyway), pack and head for the ferry stop. One guy is suggesting that I have to pay 20000 kips to get to Nagasak then to catch a bus, this sounds strange. then the guy I bought the island tour from approaches me and I buy a ticket for 40000 all the way to Pakse. while I am waiting I am having a semi-conversation with a monk (there are lots of them in Lao and most men are supposed to spend some time in a monestry part of their lives). THen Emily turns up, I had expected her to be catching a boat to Pakse which would be an interesting trip but she has changed her mind due to the cost and lenght of time required. We are ferried to Nagask and as we have to wait 45 minutes I grab a vegetable noodle soup. we then board a minibus, pretty full, I am sitting squashed between the gear lever and an Italian guy (Frederico has been travelling 4 and a half years, working when he needs to, qualified chef which is a good skill to have but has done other things such as cleaning and bar work). He is having a little fun at the expense of our driver who is unable to get the gear into 5th. At one of our interim stops (Champasak) I see Daniel on another bus. when we arrive at Pakse we are grabbed by a lone tuk-tuk driver who gets about 10 people onto his vehicle at 10000 kip each, I think he is overcharging as the distance is not that much but as usual we are all tired and desparate to find a place. the first place we all visit is pretty full and all the rooms get taken while Emily and I are trying to negotiate a price with the driver for Tadlo where there are some interesting waterfalls and scenery. it turns out that we will get there quite late and it is not feasible for today. Emily heads off and Daniel and myself also go in search of a hotel, on the way we  bump into Natalia (Polish, looks more Italian/Israeli) and find places in Sedon riverside guesthouse and I share a room with Natalia.  I shower and visit the market which is quite nice and over dinner with Daniel and Natalia we begin to share our experiences. She has been travelling over 2 years and recounts some very interesting stuff, such as jealous aboriginal women picking fights with her or hitting their husbands with bottles out of rage.  Natalia tells me what I was also told by Petra the day before: slow down. This is really resonating with me as I seem to have put myself under time pressure by the virtue of having bought a year ticket and having some travel dates already in place. There have been many occasions when I have not been enjoying the travelling so I have to seriously reconsider the manner in which I am trying to see as many places rather than really experincing and enjoying the experience and having a life too. In the early morning Daniel and Natalia head off for Vietnam. I have a lie in and visit the temple 100 meters away, nice place for a little contemplation, then go into town again to try and find something to eat, despite the numerous food places this is not so easy if you want vegetarian, there are all manner of meat on skewers including what looks like frog.

I feel more relaxed having realised what I have been doing and have decided to rest a few days, dont know how many and emailed the travel company to find out what options I have about rearranging my tickets.