Blogs from Don Det, South, Laos, Asia - page 10

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 ... read more

We left early the next morning on a double bamboo raft type ferry type thing with all the daily commuters who were going to work - scooters and all! We then got a mini bus (we ended up on the end of row ejector seat type things again!) to 4000 islands in the very south of Laos. The roads were petty bumpy and things had gotten a lot less developed since we had left Pakse and it was really lovely to get see real local life and talk to proper villagers. Because of the massive storm the night before, when we arrived at the ferry point to go over to Don Det it became very apparent I would be wishing that the worlds heaviest bag weren’t so heavy! (I know, yes, we can put them on ... read more

Just as we thought Laos couldn’t get anymore laid back we arrived in Si Phan Don, it took us 2 attempts to make it here as the first time we went to Don Khong, the larger island to visit the only bank in order to exchange some money for US dollars so we could get our Cambodia visa. The trip from Pakse on the local bus or Songthaew (2 benches) was something of an experience with 31 other passengers, including 2 people on the roof, 25 crates of beerlao and 20 plus backpacks. We stopped on route so the locals could buy treats such as beetles and cockroaches on sticks! This was on Thursday 16th, however the bank was closed until Monday because of the New Year festival, which seems to be celebrated for about a ... read more

Ahhh Laos.... beautiful green spaces, friendly people, stunning temples and unspoiled oasis's of tranquillity! Arriving in Vientiane was a strange experience as my general impression of capital cities is that they are busy, noisy, and dirty, but Vientiane was none of these things- it was the most relaxed, peaceful city which seemed to have more temples than cars! And to my delight Laos only got better from there, I think that Luang Prabang is one of the most beautiful cities Ive ever seen- so good in fact they have made the whole city a world heritage site! Strolling round the charming cobbled streets lined with gracefully understated colonial French architecture to the sound of prayer bells and chanting monks was a blissfully therapeutic experience. After four days of gently ambling about town stopping every now and ... read more

In case your all wondering, yes that sunset was as good as it looked. In fact it basically looked like that every night... I was amazing. As soon as I arrived on Don Det which is basically a tiny little backpackers island amongst the 4000 Islands in Laos, I got a hot tip to head to the west side of the island for the best huts... basically because of the sunsets. A boy, it did not disappoint. I spent a lovely four days and nights on Don Det and once again it was one of those places 'you had to want to go to' as there was't much else around. It just on the Laos side of the boarder between it and Cambodia and about 3 hrs south of Pakse. Apparently it’s also one of the ... read more