Blogs from Don Det, South, Laos, Asia - page 5

We'd heard there was a waterfall to the South of the island so a we hired a couple of "girls" bikes (these seem to be the only type on the island) and we were off to explore. Little more than a 20 minute ride and we were looking at a tirade of water roaring down between large crags of rock. Following the waterfall downstream, we found a secluded little waterhole overlooking one of waterfalls. Having not worked the bus grime off yesterday's clothes, it seemed like as good a place as any to use the Scrubba wash bag. There was even a bamboo fishing rod propped up to dry the clothes. Laundry on an island paradise hundreds of kilometres from the sea! While the clothes dried, we jumped back on the bikes and headed to the ... read more

Vi ankom til Don Det uden nogen form for forventning. Vi havde fået det anbefalet forskellige steder fra, men det var også det. Don Det er en ud af mange øer, som ligger i det område i Mekong-floden. Det er en af mest populære med Bungalows som den primære form for beværtning. Vi ankom til Naksong fra Pakse og fik os selv om bord på en båd som skulle sejle den lille tur på 10 min. ud til Don Det.Selve øen er bygget op af bungalows og restauranter langs yderkanten af øen som nok er halvanden til to km. lang og halvt så bred. Bungalowsne er yderst primitive, mange af dem uden vand og elektricitet i det omfang der er to-tre pærer og en stikkontakt. Den bungalow vi startede med at bo i havde dog vand, ... read more

We finally arrived on the small island of Don Det after a strenuous but entertaining 24 hrs of travel. The island has the reputation for lazy days and quiet nights and that was exactly what we wanted. The longtail boat dropped us off at the end of the island that is most populated with guesthouses, restaurants and a few little shops here and there. As we wanted to be slightly removed from the noisier ‘party’ scene that we had read was found in town, we wandered a bit further down the path to find a guesthouse. About 2 minutes of walking brought us to the outer edge of the ‘town’, but the path was continued to be lined with places to stay. Unfortunately, most of the places had separate bathrooms, situated across the street and down ... read more

Well after the mentalness of Vamg Vieng it was ofiicially time for some down time. After a gruelling 6 hour journey to Vientienne, the capital of laos, in the morning there followed a 15 hour sleeper bus to the southern town of Pakse, a 2 hour minibus and then a boat across to the island of Don Det in the 4000 islands. 3 days was mostly spent sleeping in, lying in a hammocks with a book and a beer and riding a retro purple girls bike around the islands! The vibe on these islands is about as laid back as it's possible to get. Chritmas Eve was taken up by whiskey buckets and fire dancers accompanied by some banging house music while Chritmas day night consisted of a hog roast and some interesting brownies at a ... read more

Sabai-deeeeeeee from Laos! Sabai-dee (hello) was the first Lao word that we learned upon arriving in this so-laid-back-that-horizontal-doesn't-do-it-justice country. And it's also the word that we've used (and heard) thousands of times since, over the past two weeks that we've spent here. There's something about the word, other than the natural smile that you produce when both saying and hearing it, that seems to sum up the atmosphere in little landlocked Laos. The smile begins with the first 's' sound but then after a little nod of the head with the 'bai' the teeth come shining through the 'dee' ending; and it´s here where the word comes alive. If you eeeeee-longate that 'deeeeeee' with as many e's as you like you're well on your way to smiling like a super laid back local, or like a ... read more