Blogs from Khong Island, South, Laos, Asia
March 23rd 2012
13th December 2011 So, it was time to say Goodbye to Cambodia and Hello to Laos. We had heard so many good things about Laos and were really looking forward to seeing it and getting to meet the reportedly very friendly locals! Unfortunately, it was not to be the most glorious of exits or entrances. We left early from Kratie in a minibus packed to the gills. Usual story, 12 seater with 20 people, plus bags etc. We travelled with our knees tucked under our chins for 2 hours before being told we needed to get off, along with a couple of girls. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, a big bus did show up about 15 minutes later. Then we were ripped off by a "guide" on the bus for the visa. ... read more
April 6th 2011
Forget Greece. Si Phan Don has it all. Here, the Mekong is at it's most beautiful. This fifty kilometer, turquoise stretch of the river is scattered with islands - four thousand islands, to be exact. Here the river is enormous, swelling to it's broadest point - an amazing fourteen kilometer span from shore to shore during the wet season. Hardly a river - it resembles the sea, still, sedate, mammoth. Don Khong is the largest and quietest island. We are lulled into lethargy and spend hours watching long-tail boats and pirogues bobbing gently, men fishing with weighted circle nets, boys wading with nets on poles and water buffalo wallowing in the shallows. Ferries make the occasional trip to the mainland, carrying women with shopping baskets and men with motorbikes. A steady ebb and flow. The island ... read more
January 8th 2011
Since the holiday is all over, I’d better write one more piece, in case you think I’ve gone AWOL in Laos! This will just be a brief summing up, so here goes. From the last entry, you’ll see that we had a really early start on New Years Eve with a flight from Vientiane to Pakse. That was followed by a long day on the road, heading towards our next hotel in Don Khong, the largest inhabited island in the Mekong (at least, in the Laos area of Mekong). By 4 p.m. we were getting close, but then it got interesting. There’s no bridge to the island, so the local entrepreneurs have set up a system of home made ferries. I’m not kidding: this is agricultural engineering at it’s best. The most basic ferries consist of ... read more
May 27th 2010
After the border crossing - a little delayed as we have to wake up the Laos officials, a couple from Algeria we're with have to repeatedly explain where their country is, in the end the officials seem to settle for near Europe and them, the Czech guy and two of us travelling together in our mini van all attempt to refuse to pay the bribe we're asked for - we finally get dropped on the mainland in Don Khon, ready to cross over to Four Thousand Islands. The boat drops us on Don Det - a beautiful Island but the North of which is very much backpacker ville and consists of bar/bungalow/travel agent/bar/bungalow/travel agent....etc and you don't really get to see much of the actual Island. From what we have read about the area we decide ... read more
January 9th 2010
Allereerst happy new year everybody! Het is alweer een tijdje geleden dat jullie iets van ons hebben kunnen lezen, het laatste verhaal eindigde in Thailand vlak voor we de grens overgingen met Laos. In Laos is internet vinden lastiger en is het ook nog eens heel langzaam. Maar we zullen jullie nu weer helemaal op de hoogte brengen van onze hoogte/ diepte punten en angstige momenten! (Geen olifanten deze keer!) We zijn Laos binnen gekomen via de friendship bridge. Deze brug over de Mekong verbind thailand bijna direct met Vientianne, de hoofdstad van Laos. Deze hoofdstad met maar liefst 250.000 inwoners is niet heel veel bijzonders. Het mooiste monument in de stad is de pha that luang, een volledig gouden chedi. Ook leuk om te zien was de franse invloed. Zo is de belanhrijkste weg van ... read more
January 8th 2010
Laos' internet cafes can't keep up with our travels, so once again we are in catch up mode.... Determined to do at least one adult activity off the main tourist trail, we decided to aim for the town of Ban Khoun Kham so we could visit the amazing Kong Lo cave. The 7 hour local bus trip held little appeal, so we splashed out and hired our own private mini van for the trip which had been paired back to 4 hours. It was comfortable and our kids could make as much noise as they liked. Which of course they did! Our remote hotel sounded most unlikely, described as having cable TV, air con and even a 25 m pool! The town is a kind of frontier town out in the middle of a wild landscape ... read more
June 26th 2009
This is the quickest post yet (on some very expensive internet that is run by generators because the islands don't technically have electricity). The 4000 Islands have been great (very hot), but tomorrow we are on our way to Cambodia. We are taking a minivan to the border and then we are heading directly to Siam Riep. Today we saw the biggest waterfalls in South East Asia, which were very impressive (obviously not as big as niagara falls...but none the less, very impressive). More from Cambodia, Lots of love, Nicole/Poke/Coco xoxoxo... read more
June 25th 2009
Actually we didn't stay in Don Khong, but Don Kon, but its not on this thingy!! So we decided to travel in luxury for a change and treat ourselves to a 7am lay in so we booked a private bus to 4000 islands and then a boat to take us to Don Kon. The minibus overheated and broke down on the motorway and we had to sit there for 2 hours melting, whilst the driver took out the engine and fan belt and all the other usually vital parts for driving and still tried to make it work. I was and am confused. I read Anna Karenina. A replacemet and much more comfotable bus eventually appeared to break them tedius wait. The longboat ride out to the islands themselves was really enjoyable and the scenery made ... read more
May 31st 2009
Sunday May 31st 2009 4000 islands Another early morning as we loaded up and headed for our boat to the mainland and left our four thousand islands chapter behind us. A minivan picked us up on the river bank and for once it was just the 2 of us but this was only for the 45 minutes drive to the Cambodian Border. It probably could have been a quicker drive if the drier didn’t stop off so she could pop into mass for a quick pray on the way though. We pulled up at the boarder and got pretty ripped on exchanging the remaining kip we had, didn’t actually spend too much in Laos in the end, and proceeded to get our passports exit stamped. I think we are supporting the local official’s rice whiskey habits ... read more
May 30th 2009
Saturday May 30th 2009 4000 islands We had had enough of been stuck on our island and really wanted to see some of the rest of the area so we booked a full day boat trip. Most of the more interesting features are about 15km down river on Don Det so we boarded a boat and sailed slowly down for about an hour. We came ashore on Don Det and it looked like a pretty thrown together shanty town where the locals have lashed up a couple of bungalows here and a tourist restaurant there to serve the back packers, and the river was really no more beautiful there than where we had stayed so our decision to stick to the comforts of electricity was the correct one I reckon. Once ashore we had to rent ... read more
