Day 105 Dolphins

17/06/13
My day started very leisurely at 10.00 and after breakfast I changed bungalows for something almost identical but cheaper than I had been paying. I then hired a bike and cycled down the east coast of the island, all 4km of it, until I reached the south where an old French, arched bridge spans part of the river and joins Don Det to Don Khon, another, even sleepier, island. The 'roads' aren't paved and signing is at a bare minimum so it took me a while to find Li Phi Falls, a very impressive waterfall. I then made an indirect way down to the southern tip, where you can see Cambodia. Whilst eating lunch there I talked to Chantelle and Stephen, 2 travellers I met yesterday. We agreed to meet back at the point at 16.00 so we could hire a boat together and go look for some dolphins. I cycled along a terrible track to the east side, then round to the north, where I had a riverside drink, then back down south for just before 16.00. We paid $8 between us for the boat and driver, a young local lad. He captained the longtail boat a couple of hundred metres out to a deep area where the dolphins live. The Irrawaddy Dolphin is an endangered species, there are fewer than 100 left, but it didn't stop us seeing loads (at least a couple, lots of times). On the way back to land our engine ran out of fuel so the lad had to paddle back, I don't think he will make the same mistake again. We rode back together then went our separate ways to shower and change but we met up again for dinner, which was really tasty. Afterwards we went to a bar where we met a couple of their friends who we spent the remainder of the evening with.