Waiting for godot - I mean dolphins

After a delicous time cooking in Phnom Penh I moved on to Kratie, my last stop in Cambodia. My bus being at 6.45am I caught some breakfast at the now familiar bus station near the central market. 2 baguettes - one with Laughing Cow spreadable cheese and the other stuffed with pork floss - perfect travelling food. This particular bus was going all the way to Pakse in Laos so I met many people stopping at various points along the way. I'd prebooked my accomodation as I do on travel days to make life as stress free as possible at the other end, trudging around a new place with a heavy pack in the afternoon sun is not much fun. Anyhoo - we arrived in Kratie and I got my first glimpse of the mighty Mekong. I was met at the bus stop (a new experience for me!) and tuk tuk'ed to The Balcony Guesthouse. I met many interesting people on Balcony's balcony. A few of us banded together to go and see Kratie's famously rare Irrawaddy dolphins. After a half hour tuk tuk ride through villages along the riverside we arrived at the boat launch. $7 got us a 90 minute ride during which we saw plenty of dolphins though you have to be pretty quick to spot them. As for taking photos I had no hope with my old camera so you will have to take my word for it that I saw them! It was lovely being out on the water listening for the sound of dolphins surfacing.

The next day i headed over to Koh Treung an island in the middle of the river. Its has no tourist infrastructure and the thing to do is hire a bike and do the 9km circut around the island. The path is mostly shaded and relatively smooth. It was the perfect end to my time in Cambodia. Next stop Laos and the 4000 islands.