trying to catch up

alright i left off in the hammock and im gonna jump right back into it from there.
we stayed two days on the island of don khone which was plenty of time to see everything that this small island had to offer. the island was so small in fact you could rent bycycles and peddle around the whole island in probably about 2-3 hours. after we had gotten our things set up at our little riverside hovel. we rented bycycles and peddled to the exact opposite side of the island. it really shouldnt have been that much of a feat but, the path we took was specified by a guide book we read to be "too bumpy for bycycles". we did it anyway.. it definitely was too bumby at places but we made it with no ill problems. from there we explored some ruins of a dock where french merchants pulled supplies out of the water to transport by train to the other side of the island. the boats couldnt simply just float around to the other side as it is blocked by rapids. after exploring that for a short while we began the bike ride back choosing a different path this time. the path back was much more relaxing and not nearly as bumpy. we passed over 3 simple bridges and rode through thick jugles of trees, underbrush, and bamboo. we got back to our riverside house and just sat and relaxed for a while. we ended up leaving the house and taking the bikes with us to cross back over to the first island of don det for dinner. we ate at a small little restuarant that had a high porch over looking the bridge and river. Bonus for me they had hammocks next to the tables. we ate our dinners which for me consisted of baguette and fried eggs and then went back to our shack. we read on the porch of our shack untill Bill and Chris went to bed. by this time there was storm moving in and i decided to stay out. in the storm there was no rain no lightning strikes. Lightning would flash across the sky every so often lighting up both sides of the river and making small details on both sides clearly visibly for a spliy second. at one point a praying mantis assumed a position on our porch. i watched it for a good 30 minutes flying back and forth eating the bugs that were drawn to our 1 porch light split between our rooms. the light finally went out when the family we had rented form turned it off. so i went to my room seeing the way by the flashes of lighting and and oil lamp they had provided for us. I slept with the door to my room open which was fine, the only plus was that it brought a cool breeze into the room. i woke up the next morning and it was still rather early so i went back to sleep for an hour or so then got up. taking a morning shower was miserable but necessary. Hot water was neither availible in the house or on the rest of the island for that matter. after the ice bath we went to breakfast at the same restuarant we had been to the day before. this time i ate a fruit saland and baguete with fried egg. not a whole lot of variation in my meals but it was very very good. all of us ate breakfast at our own pace and once we had all gotten back to the shack we decided it was time to go seek out a boat that wwe could charter to see the rare mekhong river dolphin. Bill had gotten up early that morning and had found a place that would take us for a fair price. To get there we walked to an opposite side of the island to a place called the beach. On the island there are many hand drawn maps for visitors. mostly these maps consist of a white backing and somone simply just using a sharpie to draw it on. everyone of the maps had the beach labeled. The walk to the bech wasnt long but it definitely wasnt short. When we got there it looked ..... Like a beach. The whole side of the island after coming through the trees was sand for what seemed like two soccer field lengths. there were fishing boats unused and pulled up high in the sand. and some were in the water tied off to trees or rocks. standing on the shore and looking out there were rapds with very large rocks that stood high out of the water. Bill found the man he had told us about this morning and we paid him and fromt here he walked us down to the water. he un hooked his boat and walked it closer to the shore where we wouldnt have to get wet to get in. we jumped in the boat and took a 15 minute journey to another island where he ushered us to get out. when we got there we realized that not olny could we see the dolphins out in the water we hadnt expected to see but, we were also illegally in cambodia. Those types of trips where foreiners are taken and brought back soon after must be normal, because a combodian soldier didnt even flinch when he saw us landing on his territory. He simply pushed us to a little shack with tables and chairs and asked us if there was somthing he could get us to drink. we were sitting under the shack drinking sodas and looking out over a wide body of water and about 50 meters out you could see the dolphins surfacing for air. it was absolutely amazing. after a short time they gave us our suvenir (i know i spelled that wrong) dolphin watching tickets that said. you have been to cambodia ... blah blah. somthing nice that said we had been to cambodia without getting stamped. from there we simply got back into our rickety boat that was now taking in water.... which was very discouraging. somehow we were able to make it back to the main island with our boatman driving and dumping buckets of water overboard at the same time. we thanked the boatman and headed back to our favorite restuarant on the river and since there really was nothing else to see on the small island we laid around eating at the restuarant and sleeping in the hammocks untill it was late at night. we got to our restuarant at around 1 and we didnt leave till 8. i slept in a hammock from about 3-5 and bill and chris read for that time. when we walked back accross the bride to the island with our riverside hut. would could see an uncountable amount of stars. the cloud looking formation that never moved from its place in the sky was the milky way galaxy and it could be made out very easily and without question. after taking a short while to stare at the celestial beauty we continued our walk to our hut. when we got there we spent no time ont the porch we simply went to sleep. i was awakend late that night by a great storm. the wind blew fiercely against our shack and the door slammed open and shut every few minutes. then the wind slowed and a steady rain began. when i awoke it was still raining and it was time to fun i boat off the island and back to the first village that had the bus station. the house the we were staying at convieniently had a price per person for boat and vip minibus back to the inland. i really cant remember the order of where we went from there but i know that we were able to cross back into thailand that day and we were close to making it back to khon kaen but we missed the last bus there by an hour. so we had to spend the night in a town which i cant for the life of me remember the name. the first bus to Khon Kaen in the morning was at 5 so we ended up going to a cheap hotel and sleeping for a short time before waking up at 4 and walking to the bus station. we left from that bus station and some hours later. we arrived in khon kaen. because we had left so early the day was still young. bill needed to get on the motor bike and take a trip north to see one of his friends before we left thailand completely. Chris ended up going back to the hotel and i had some errands to run in town if i was going to be ready to go on my own. i needed a watch that had an alarm and just some toher travel snacks. i ended up walking around for at least a couple hours trying to explain to street vendors that i wanted a watch with an alarm. i finally realized the easiest way to explain this was to say watch and then say "beep beep". they understood immidiately and were even able to show me how to set it. i stopped at the supermarket and got some simple crackers and snacks for our soon to be trip to bangkok. i went back to the apartment and Chris was there reading and from there we really didnt do much. The last few days in Khon kaen we simply visited interwater everyday, visited the annual student market on campus, walked around town, and went to a rotary meeing. Lek was basically our driver for the last few days we were there. she helped us whenever she could and took us out to eat alot. the student market is simply an annual convention that they have in this big building on KKU campus. students can get good deals on clothes, books, bags, computers, and anything else electronic. even though all of the things at the student sale were interesting/cool i didnt buy anything. Bill bought a pack so he could begin his backpacking again though. The last day we were in KHon kaen we spent the morning at interwater. Interwater not only specialized in water treatment but the also put in pools and so on. out in fron ton Interwater there is one of the pools and Lek let me swim in it for a little while. it wasnt heated but it felt amazing. When we finally left Khon kaen we were able to say our goodbyes to Lek but Chelumchai had left a few days earlier on business. we said our goodbyes and i promised Lek i would return one day to run in the Khon Kaen marathon. Not only does Lek work at interwater but once a year when the marathon happends she works with foreign runners to help get them registered. Back to our story. we Left inter water and headed down town to a rotary meeting that perfectly fit our schedule so that we could sit in on it then get on a bus to Bangkok. The rotary meeting was simple. consisting of a buffet and then sitting at a table with its few members and listening to a language we coulding understand. they asked Bill, Chris and I to stand up and simply speak about our experiences while we had been there and we had a translator to tell them what we were saying. the meeting went on for some time and we had to leave while it was still in session. we said our goodbyes and headed for the bus station which was just around the corner from where there meetings are held. we got to the bus station and got our tickets from there got directly on teh bus and took our 6 hours ride to Bangkok. when we got there we took a taxi to kaoson road which is the main place for tourists to stay. it has all the street bars and worthless t-shirts and just that fickle people think they need. the only stores that are worth anything on that street are the food vendors and the enlgish book stores. we stayed at the same place we had stayed at the last time we were in bangkok. we left our bags in the rooms and went to explore the street looking for one of my favorite food vendors. its a kind of pancake they cook in front of you and fruit on top of it and then add think condensed milk.... very good. especially with strawberry jelly. we couldnt find any but we decided we would come back to the street later. we went looking for dinner and found it at a small indian restuarant that was placed on the second floor of a suits made to fit in 18 hours. the food was amazing and was not very expensive. we left the small restuarant thanking the small family that owned itand from there Chris bought his bus ticket to the airport and went to sleep while Bill and i walked the main street again. after a while Bill went back to his room and i walked finally finding my pancake guy. I ended up eating 3. i banana and two strawberries. after that i explored the shops and by this time the road was begining to slow down so i went back to the rom to get some sleep. When i awoke Chris had already taken his bus to the airport. i felt bad that i had missed my opportunity to say goodbye but notheless what was done was done. Bill had gone to the airport and had said he would meet me in the lobby of the hotel at 10:30 so i spent my morning walking the streets examining the day shops and using the overpriced computers. i met bill in the lobby of my guest house at 10:30 and from there i went ahead and checked out. we left our bags in the lobby of the hotel simply because no one would mess with them. the hotel watches youth bags for a price but no one in that hotel would steal our stuff. we left to go explore the street and find some early luch. it was still early for kauson road to start back up but the vendors were out early trying to sell all the things you dont need to you. we ended up stopping for lunch at a little side vendor that looked like a shack with some cinderblocks as a stove and a few cement tables and chairs. the food was very good although the vendor itself looked a little out there. we walked around for a short time untill Bill took me to a place where we could buy a bus ticket to the airport. we got our tickets and from there we basically had 4 hours untill our bus would get there. we split up to explore the street by ourselves. i ended up just exploringthe shops trying to find some stuff that wsant completely overprices or worthless. i ended up just getting some country flag patches and a cheap cheap pair of knock off ray ban sun glasses. i went back to where we had bought our ticket and the i used their internet to update the blog and checked the email. i sat around for the longes tine before going out one last time to check the book store and go get a drink from 7/11. the book store held nothign that i thought i would be interested in and 7/11 consisted of a water. i went back to the building for the last time and simply wrote untill a man came and picked us up in the minibus to the airport.