It’s a leap of faith.
6 metres into the Mekong River.
At night.
Well rehearsed during the day, darkness ensures the surface eludes even the keenest eye.
Perched on the edge of the Reggae Bar’s diving board, and with sight and sound compromised, instinct is your closest ally.
Your heart started pounding even before you stepped over the balustrade, but now looking down into murky oblivion, with onlookers stretched across the balcony, it fights to burst out of your chest.
But there’s no turning back now.
Its just a case of getting down and doing it.
You jump, the cobbled together wooden diving board springing you an extra half metre into the air. Your mind races as it strives to recall the form and technique daylight has allowed you to master. Your arms circle wildly, but as your body tilts forward, something clicks. Arms straight, hands together, minimize surface contact.
And as if by magic you dive into the Mekong headfirst, instantly smothered in its cool watery comfort – your brain lurches to every to part of the body – no pain, no damage, no problems.
You surface, you look up – the lights of the Reggae Bar silhouetting your friends, congratulating you in unison, and then you know.
You nailed it.
And my god, it makes you feel alive.
Bucketeer: David Neo
Contribution: Guitar
Biog: Parisian travelling musician with gypsy leanings
Likes: Cigarettes, Sex, Music and Cigarettes
Dislikes: Not having Cigarettes
Paradise is a dangerous word. The criteria necessitated to bestow such an honour is bountiful. But the 4000 islands, at Laos’ southern border with Cambodia, is as close as I’ve come to finding it.
It truly is a remarkable place.
5000 years ago, the Mekong fed straight into the sea at Laos southernmost border, only for Cambodia to appear from its productive deposit of silt. But it left behind a sprawling mass of water, where literally 4000 islands, from small sand bars, deserted islands, inhabited land masses litter a large slice of the delta.
Dominated by the mighty river, bungalows line the multitude of river banks, leaving locals and backpackers to indulge in true isolation, and enjoy an intimate relationship with Mother Nature’s handiwork.
You can swim from Island to Island for the rest of your life, and still not have discovered every available inch of land that emerge from the water. Only the true seasoned fisherman can avoid any chance of getting lost, or coming a cropper on sudden currents and rapids.
But it also provides the backpacker with a truly awesome playground.
And weed plays an integral part to the vibe in the 4000 islands, Don Det most notably. Its availability and endorsement by the Laos authorities comes with a caveat to anyone wanting anything stronger – look elsewhere. Life is simple here, and that’s something it uncompromisingly holds onto. In fact its even served on the menu here, in between the Mango Shake and Chicken Noodle Soup.
For 9 days, The Bucketeers (Ryan, David, Celina and I) exploited this paradise with music, laughter, cheap whiskey, good (to middling) food and the occasional herbal remedy.
After the incessant momentum of travelling, its vital to stay somewhere, make it a temporary home, and slow…
… The...
…Fuck...
…Down
Get yourself a routine, instill some normality in a life that thrives on the unsettled to enrich the soul, and re-energise the batteries.
So…
Wake up.
Chill in our hammocks.
Order Breakfast
Dive into the Mekong from the Reggae Bar
Return to Breakfast establishment to eat Breakfast
Return to Reggae Bar
Play Scrabble / Chess / Bananagrams / Shithead (delete as appropriate)
Dive into the Mekong from the Reggae Bar
Write a few ads
Play Scrabble / Chess / Bananagrams / Shithead (delete as appropriate)
Find venue for dinner
Share £1 bottle of Whiskey among 3
Play music
Sleep
Busy day
Of course, it wasn’t all like that. There were trips to waterfalls and river pools, freshwater dolphin spotting, eating snake (rubbery), fishing trips where you eat your catch on a deserted island, island hopping either on bicycle or by swimming, finding random sandbars that lye mere millimeters beneath the surface (to do your best Jesus impression)…
…but life was easy, life was good.
And the Bucketeers took their guitars and their voices everywhere.
We met some incredible people, great friends, interesting characters, lifetime (and throwaway) facebook buddies – names too many to list…
But a special mention has to go to The Amazingly Splendiferous Thimon
If that makes him sound like a magician, that because he is. A friend of Celina’s from Berlin, he’s German TV’s answer to Paul Daniels – taller (but not a lot), Debbie McGee-less and infinitely cooler.
On his arrival he had us all (and anyone else who was watching) spellbound by his magic.
And I don’t hyperbolize. To see street magic like that performed within inches of your face – and I, like the next person, is waiting to see the strings, the marked cards, the slip ups – was just incredible.
See for youself at:
See for youself at:
For the rest of our stay, he integrated himself into our extremely tight schedule, and became an honourary Bucketeer – but magic is no substitute for music…
Bucketeer: Selena Bostic
Contribution: Vocals (and what a voice!)
Biog: Berlin based singer songwriter
Likes: Meditation, spirituality, and Double Stuffed Oreos
Dislikes: Single Stuffed Oreos
4000 Islands became a wrench to leave, but even the most laid backed person in the world must see that you can only indulge yourself in inactivity for so long before restlessness rears its head. We’d been there, Don Det.
So the next chapter for the Bucketeers was hatched.
And this was as far removed from our 9 days of working hard at doing nothing as one could imagine. We packed up and headed north to Pakse (the home of our broken toilet/sink saga) - not to stay for any significant amount of time…
…but to hire motorbikes for a 4 day tour of Laos’ Bolavean Plateau.
Bucketeer: Ryan Kelley
Contribution: MC
Biog: Nevada country boy, born traveler
Likes: Lyrical tomfoolery, freestyle japery, random rappery, verbal quick wittery … and French girls
Dislikes: French men…
… (other than David of course)
The home of Laos’ plethora of Coffee plantations, the Plateau is circumvented by a road, taking you past hundreds of kilometres of forest, jungle and waterfalls.
The road itself is mainly tarmaced and smooth, a sign of Laos’ economic progress. But ironically it was the section of road that had us weaving through sand, dirt and over rock, threatening to topple us from our bikes (and cast Ryans passport to the big security locker in the sky) that was the greatest sign of how good things are there.
It is to be a new major link from East to West, as Laos moves quickly to exploit its very rapid growth, providing another major link to Vietnam and improving transport facilities for the export of their coffee.
On our 3rd day, this 80 km stretch of pure dust and dirt had us driving past huge steamrollers, diggers and road-making-thingy-mu-gubbins (don’t ask me to be technical) removing any doubt that Laos is well and truly going places.
As dusk fell, the landscape ahead filled with these giants of construction machinery, provided a truly stirring dramatic backdrop. Only thing missing was the John Williams score.
The 3 nights and 4 days on the road (with our guitars left behind) was a truly remarkable journey. Riding a motorbike, through open landscapes gives you a rush like nothing else – and you realize what all the fuss is about.
They may have been only semi-automatics, only 125cc’s, but that sense of freedom is so tangible, so life affirming it will remain implanted in my head for a lifetime…
…and probably given me ideas that would scare the shit out of my mom.
But this was Laos. Nothing manicured, glossed and shiny – just raw, exciting, fresh and new.
The country has quite simply blown me away – its been a jump into the unknown that has well and truly paid off. My knowledge of Laos was zilch – now I’m one of its biggest advocates. The people, the culture, the landscape. Its energy and vibe.
It will change, no doubt about it. And then Thailand will have a new challenger in the Bucket stakes. But till then, get here when you can, embrace it while its still gleaming.
As for me, I’m now in Cambodia – a country with an ancient past steeped in splendor, and a recent one soaked in blood.
It’s another country that I knew little about, but I’m learning fast. I’m far more seasoned at travelling, and things are a hell of a lot easier. Its more instinctive – where to go, where to look – and not living by the guide book means you learn via experience, the best tool out there.
But nothing will guarantee that the time I will spend here will be anymore fun, or anyless challenging than that that has been before.
There’s the distinct possibility that this country can undo me and send me packing.
But I guess that’s just the leap of faith I have to take…
Bucketeer: Daniel Gwynne
Contribution: Guitar (and general lackey)
Biog: Brummie
Likes: Birmingham City
Dislikes: Aston Villa
