It’s like a floating farmyard on Don Dhet. I’ve heard it said you are never more than three feet from a cockroach; here, you are never more than three feet from a chicken. The boys cluck you awake, the babies peep beside your flip-flopped feet, the mamas stand on heavy chicken legs, watching. They walk onto balconies, into stores, and their sounds dominate. Buffaloes, bunnies, bugs, geckos, spiders, a wonderfully spiritual amount of butterflies and moths, pigs, cats, dogs, ducks, geese and the innumerable fish of the Mekong inhabit this 10 sq. km. island.

Laziness runs rampant among the mutts.

They ate some of my Pringles.

An old lady starting calling for the birds, “PeepPeepPeepPeepPeep.” They cautiously walked past me.

They seemed so happy in their dirt pool.

If you look in the middle, you can see a fat heart; maybe it’s just a love fight.

They were chasing each other. Dog looks to be having fun, cat is pissed.

Ants are also very present. The big black ones who mind their own business, the small red or black ones that try to eat anything sitting on a table, and then the big, red fire ants. I put my back down by the river for a few seconds and they were already up my leg and on my hands, on my backpack and water bottle.