Don Khon Island


Advertisement
Laos' flag
Asia » Laos » South » Si Phan Don
August 9th 2010
Published: August 9th 2010
Edit Blog Post

Took a minivan and boat to Si Phun Don - 4 thousand island. It's an area in the deep south of Lao with these small island on the Mekong. I chose to stay on Don Khon. It's connected to Don Det by a bridge built by the French before World War 2. It connected 2 piers by a rail road on the two islands. The railroad hasn't functioned since WW2. There are a couple of waterfalls on Don Khon - more correctly they look like rapids to me, but no matter. The vast majority of backpackers choose to stay on Don Det, but since accommodation are a bit nicer I decided to go to Don Khon instead. There is not much to do on these islands apart from laying in the hummock overlooking the river. There is no nightlife to speak of - most places close about 9 pm. There is no bank, ATM, post office or police station. Don Det has a couple of small grocery store, but Don Khon doesn't even have those. I planned on staying 3 nights and ended up staying 5. At first I was bored out of my mind. I rented a bike, and went around both island in 3 hours, checking out the waterfalls and the rusted steam engine - the local attraction 😊 Then lazied in my hummock for the rest of the time reading a book. I got into it so much that I read 5 books while I was there and didn't want to leave as I couldn't be bothered to pack. I had food brought into my bungalow as I didn't want to leave the hummock for long 😊
So after 5 days of this lazy life, I decided to leave before I got completely spoiled by the easy going life in Laos.
Overall, Laos was one of the nicest parts of my trip. The people are just amazing. They are very easygoing, laid back, friendly and just nice all around. The country is beautiful with amazing scenery everywhere.
What a contrast to Vietnam! Unlike Vietnam, the people here don't want to be bothered with bargaining. The only time I even tried bargaining is for accommodation, and even then usually just asking for a better rate was sufficient to slash the price by a buck or so.
Beer Lao, which has an almost complete monopoly here - is a really tasty beer and is a great bargain as well.
Next stop - Cambodia.



Additional photos below
Photos: 32, Displayed: 23


Advertisement



Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0547s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb