Blogs from Don Det, South, Laos, Asia - page 4

Laos PDR "Please Dont Rush" really lives up to it's name as we experienced. Seems when it comes to transport in South East Asia we are jynxed. Something always seems to go wrong. Our bus journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng got off to a good start with the bus only being half full so we had as much space as we liked. The next 6 hours was like the Bolivia episode of Topgear. Narrow, winding roads through the mountains with a 300ft drop at the edge. We spent the whole journey sliding about our seats and getting whacked with things flying out our bags. At one point the bus just came to a stop behind a queue of buses and trucks. A few people went off the bus to investigate the reason for the ... read more

4000 Islands - finally! We got picked up from our guesthouse in Paske at 8am (again no aircon in the minibus). As it is with Laos transport, everything takes a while and you have to be patient. We stopped after about 20 mins to pick up a friend of the driver (as we found out after asking him). The friend was obviously in no hurry and leisurely arrived after 40 mins. She then strolled to the bus and took her time getting into the bus. She was oblivious to the 35 angry and very hot tourists. Oh don't you love travelling in Laos??!! The bus driver then tried to convince us that we are booked to go to Don Kong but we told him that we are going to Don Det. When we arrived near the ... read more

Luego de casi 24 horas viajando en 6 diferentes transportes (tren, tuk-tuk, autobús, tuk-tuk, songatew, lancha) llegamos a Don Det, una de las islas de Si Phan Don, mejor conocido como 4000 islas, un grupo de islitas en el río Mekong. Lo mejor que hay para hacer en Don Det es relajarse en una hamaca, y la mayoría de los alojamientos (generalmente bungalows sobre el río, o palafitos para los venezolanos) proveen la facilidad para practicar este deporte; pues nos dedicamos a pasar los días echados en la hamaca contemplando el río y sus islitas, las lanchas que pasaban, un pescador de vez en cuando, los niños locales bañándose y jugando como Dios los trajo al mundo; era tan hermoso y entretenido el panorama que no te podías sentir culpable por haber viajado tan lejos para ... read more

After a very pleasant sleeper bus ride (we slept the entire 10 hour trip). We arrived in Pakse, swapped busses, drive 2 more hours and hopped off at the dock to catch the little long tail boat to take us across to the main island, Don Det. 4000 islands isnt just a name, there are literally 4000 islands in this portion of the Mekong river. And its easy to forget that you are on a river sometimes as it is so massive in places. The tiny village on Don Det that we are staying in is a sleepy place with no night life other than the few bar/restaurants that people pack into at night. Our first night in we found a bungalo for 70,000 kip a night, which seemed a little much but again we were ... read more

Leaving Vientiane, myself & Mel, my new travelling companion, head south; our destination Don Det, part of the 4000 islands in the very South of Laos. However, as I've decided to postpone my visit to Vietnam until April, we have time on our side and decide to explore a bit more of Southern Laos en route. First stop is Kong Lor cave, described in the guide book as "The real Indiana Jones experience" and "Star Trek on LSD"... Its enough to get us excited about it, though neither of us being Star Trek fans, we go with Indiana Jones and frequently burst into singing the theme tune at regular intervals on the bus ride down there, which inevitably always seems to turn into the A-Team theme tune, or sometimes Superman (try it yourself, you'll know what ... read more