Don Det an Island paradise of peace, tranquility and occasional drama.

It is now the 27th of March. I have been on Don Det since March 5th. It has been a wonderful period of healing and rebirth. I came here a hopeless cripple barely able to walk 20 meters without a rest. 3 weeks later and I feel a new man. No back pain, no spasms. I can walk up and down stairs without pain, I can bend over and touch the back of my heels!

As I said I got here 3 weeks ago and I could hardly move. For the first 3 days I laid on my Back on my bed or on a bench in the restraint. After the third day I wondered around a bit and groaned a lot. Tip found me someone who could give me a massage. The masseur was a young Laotian woman. She was strong as an ox and knew exactly what to do.

It started off with me lying on my stomach. She grabbed each calf muscle and turned it into a piece of plasticine. It was like my calves had become piece of bread dough. Then she would kneel her way up the backs of my thighs (she was not a light person) onto my pelvic girdle and onto my lower back. She then pushed my back and shoulders through the front of my body. She pressed hard in all those point guaranteed to elicit a groan of agony from me. For an hour she subjected my back, legs and arms to a withering amount of pressure points. It was a refined form of torture. The first few times it was terrible, then after a while my body began to respond. No painful pressure points, all my muscles seemed to wilt under her touch. For two full weeks I had a massage every other day. It worked miracles. Not only did it fix my back but it also sorted out a whole lot more things. Both knees are now reborn. I am really flexible these days. No back pain!

Life on the Islands remains the same. Every day is a scorcher. The sun is relentless and all you can do is get out of it and under a fan or a breeze. That is what I have been doing. A bit of colour and movement when one of my friends and his partner got well and truly busted. the Police dragged him off to jail in Pakse, a place you do not want to be. After a day they took him to the border and deported him. Poor bugger.

I am here for two more days and then I fly to Saigon from Pakse on Saturday. I will be in Dong Hoi Saturday night. Back on the bike and back on the tour.

Postscript
It is my last morning. I am all packed, bills are paid and I am waiting for the 11 O'clock boat to take me to Nakassang. For the last 2 days I have been lazing in my hammock and having my last massages. I have been watching the water buffalo diving for morsels in the river bottom. They can hold their breathe longer than I can.