Camels And Other Creatures

This video was taken with my friend Trish as we rode on the back of a camel through the Thar desert, near Jaisalmer, India. We had so much fun that day and night, playing in the sand, sleeping under the stars after eating our fill of delicious curry, hearing gorgeous harpsicum music echo through the dunes, chatting late into the evening. No matter how much I love the countries I’m now travelling through, every day I think of India. Every day I think about how I’d like to go back.

That being said, I am currently on Don Det, one of the 4000 Islands in the very south of Laos, and it is absolutely lovely. I am fairly certain I am heading to Cambodia tomorrow (although tubing down the river each day with a cold beer in hand, or riding my bike to see local villages and waterfalls, or watching the sunset from my hammock are all luring me to stay longer) because my days are now numbered; I have a flight to Melbourne on the 1st of June, leaving me only two weeks for the entire country. I hate when I feel rushed while travelling, but I have to remind myself that I am lucky to be here, no matter how short the time. And, of course, there’s always next time…

I have many stories from Laos, many funny and sad and interesting stories about Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Phonsavan, and now the 4000 Islands, but once again limited internet means that I have so little time to write all of it down here. I just hope that I remember, with detail, seeing the Plain of Jars, having to get rescued by boat when my inner tube got caught in a current, spending mornings with monks, sitting up late at night during a massive thunderstorm and battling spiders and cockroaches with only a torch to guide me, lounging for hours in French cafes, sharing a Beer Lao (or seven) with a gaggle of new pals, losing literally ounces of blood due to a leech that was lingering on my foot unbeknownst to me for hours, riding bicylces through stunning cities and by roaring waterfalls and along riverside paths, falling in love with this beautiful and peaceful country, falling in love with these beautiful and peaceful people.

OK, I’d rather not remember the epic battle with the cockroaches. Or the leech. That was all pretty horrible.