Waterfalls and River Dolphins
Don Det had shaped into the epitome of a traveller’s imagination.
From the moment I saw the 4000 Islands on a map, I knew I had to go. My expectations had steadily grew. Usually high expectations end in devastation, but Don Det instantly found a place in my heart.
Few foreigners had set foot on the island. The locals had a perfect balance of tranquillity and life. I was surprised and comforted by the fact it was not yet overrun.
We bumped into friends from Luang Prabang. Perplexed, I wondered how they had beaten us there.
Our duo was now a posse. A family bonded by the secret place we had stumbled upon. Even though it is on all the maps and in all the guide books Don Det felt like a secret to be shared with no one except ourselves.
I walked down the main strip—a wide sandy path with about a dozen wooden buildings—I couldn’t take my eyes off the advertisements plastered on every shopfront. Usually I don’t take notice of advertisements but this one sucked me in.
It was the kayaking trip of my dreams: food, kayaks. Waterfalls and river dolphins! How could I resist? Well let’s face it, I didn’t try. I had mentally signed up before I even had a roof over my head.
Our posse met early at a restaurant for the included breakfast. With a big day ahead we gorged ourselves on bread and eggs. And yes, there was healthier muesli options on the menu…
As we finished off our meals, the guides arrived. They quickly put us in lifejackets and handed us oars to carry down to the beach. A familiar face walked past. Another friend, this time from Vang Vieng was making his way off the island alone. We grabbed him and forced him to join us. Force is probably too strong a term as he was more than happy for an excuse to stay in paradise with friends.
We were marched down to the beach and paired up. The guides weren’t pleased when I paired up with my Swiss friend Nora. As we paddled away from the shore the guides tried continuously to split us up. Determined to prove we weren’t the weakest links we refused to budge from our kayak.
The water quickened and we were propelled through the trees and shrubs. Our guides quickly began a rescue mission to stop a different tour group from entering the waterfall. Smug, Nora and I glided by.
Soon we reached land. With the point of a finger we were told to walk.
We trudged along a forest trail confused as to why we were on foot. A rumble grew the further we marched. Our peaceful calm river had turned into a torrential violent waterfall theatre.
Through the forest we continued. Away from the thunder and into the peace. We were met with our kayaks and were back in the water.
The river system stretched out before us bordered by islands, oceans apart. “Dolphins!” I heard one of the guides cry. The mood lifted and we all accelerated, Nora and me in the lead.
A loud gasp broke the sound of our paddles slicing through the water. We slowed and came to a stop with a pod of river dolphins cruising right in front of us. Silence followed. The stillness broken only by the gasps of the dolphins coming up for air.
The silence was short lived as another of my friends decided he was a dolphin and dove into the river. I was tempted to follow as with my body prickling with sweat in the searing sun.
Mesmerised with the dolphins and about to take a swim, I was stopped. One word: food. At the mention of it we realised how starved we all were. We raced towards the nearest island our guide was indicating with his outstretched arm.
Relaxing in the shade, we watched our guides prepare a BBQ feast and fruit salad for desert. We shared the picnic space with the other group of kayakers from earlier. They were definitely in awe of our-in-your-face awesomeness… definitely the life of the party.
Feast demolished and one water fight later, we were off to visit the grand waterfalls. One long paddle to the mainland is all that separated us from the next part of our adventure.
Suddenly, our boat began to drag in the water. Every stroke gained us no momentum. We were motionless and soon overtaken by our whole group. Inch by inch we approached the sandy stretch our friends had reached.
We finally pulled into the beach and attempted to drag our boat up the shore. On the previous stops we had nailed this simple task. However, this time it wouldn’t budge, our hull had filled with water and was almost overflowing. We had picked a dud after lunch!
Leaving our boat to our guides, we rationed the last of our water. We waited for our ride to the waterfalls. And we waited. Sweat dripped, thirst scratched at our throats and the other group arrived and left.
An exhaust exploded and alerted us to the arrival of our ride. Our kayaks were loaded on and we crammed around and on them. We begged for the driver to go faster so we could cool off in the breeze. Our guide told us not to worry as we could soon go for a swim.
With that we got a second wind. Arriving at the waterfalls, we took a mandatory group photo before pressuring our guides to take us straight to the swimming hole.
We were led down a small trail to a pool that was less ferocious to the surrounding falls. Instantly we plunged in and mucked around in the smaller falls. Nothing like a good massage after a day of paddling.
The sun dipped in the sky and we were ready to go home. We piled back into the truck and were taken back to the river for one final paddle. After the last stretch Nora and I struggled. Our arms had finally given way and we slowly made our way back to Don Det as the sun set.
