Island in the Stream.

---

As if we weren't relaxed enough after our stay in Vang Vieng we decided to head down to Don Det, a little island in the middle of the Mekong river, where life is about as relaxed as you can get. Getting there involved a flight to Savannakhet then a 3 hour mini bus ride to Pakse where we were originally supposed to fly to but apparently that airport was closed. (it was a pretty nice trip though as we were the only passengers in the airports very new looking mini bus, with a driver and his friend who seemed very happy to leave work for the day to drive us) Once we arrived in Pakse we left our lovely air conditioned mini bus and crammed into a local "bus" (basically a pick up truck with roof and 3 benches in the back) with about 20 other passengers for another 3 hour ride ($3). Then is was just a short boat trip across the river to Don Det were we basically spent the next 3 days enjoying doing absolutely nothing.
The perimeter of the island seems to be all guest houses which are little bungalows right out over the river, most of them have hammocks on a little porch overlooking the river which make a great place to nap away the day. Some of the bungalows have electricity for a few hours a night if you are lucky, but it is basically lights out by 10, which made for some amazing stargazing, I was actually startled by the number of stars when I looked up at the sky our first night there. We stayed at Uncle Tho’s which were some basic little bungalows but they nice and quiet, the food was good and the service was very friendly and only they only cost $2.50 a night.
There is very little to do on the island we spent one day walking over to the neighbouring island of Don Khon to check out the waterfalls (actually very-very large rapids) using an old French railway bridge, the French built to bypass the rapids. Our only other pass time was wondering around the island to observe the workers in the rice patties or the various cows, pigs and chickens that were just wondering around.
Overall it was a nice relaxing 3 days.

---

Photos

Our Local Bus
3 hours on this with 25 other people.

Mr Tho's - Great spot to stay.
20000 kip/night = $2.50/night

Comments

[Nina]

G'day
Hi Tim!! Have you really been traveling all this time? Gosh you make me feel so jealous. Surely Australia must be on your next to do? Make sure you let us know if you're down here. Take care and your photos are wonderful, as always... Nina & Guy