The 4000 Islands

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There may or may not be 4000 islands dotted around the Mekong in southern Laos. What is certain is that there are an awful lot of them! We stayed on the largest island of the archipelago, Don Khong, which was a tropical paradise and fairy undeveloped.

A minibus had brought us all the way from Pakse to a tiny settlement on the bank of the river. There we were handed over to a boatman who safely delivered us to the other side, successfully selling us a day trip in the process! He took us all the way to where we were staying, the Mali Guesthouse. We chose well with our accommodation and fell in love with Mali, a Lao/Canadian who spends six month of the year in each of her homes. She's an amazing cook too with the best omelettes ever, and excellent evening meals if she had enough guests. Just sitting on the verandah watching the world go by, reading a book, makes you realise that wifi is so unnecessary. One non-luxury item is a torch. The riverfront road is mostly unlit and uneven so you need to provide your own light for the short walk to the local restaurants could be perilous.

The next day we were collected right on time and led down to our waiting boat. We then spent the best part of two hours travelling downstream avoiding rapids and shallow water until we reached the more developed island of Don Khone. Along the way we saw the whole range of life by the river: fishermen throwing their nets, women washing clothes, saffron robes hanging out to dry near temples, and even the occasional herd of buffalo cooling off.

After paying our entry fee onto the island we walked the few hundred yards to a rusting old locomotive. This is a leftover from French colonial days when, unable to sail their boats up the river, they built a short railway line to carry their boats around the dangerous rapids and waterfalls. It's a shame that the train from a past era has not been kept a little better but for something that had been abandoned in the jungle then rediscovered decades later, it hasn't fared too badly. The information boards told the story well, and in surprisingly good English.

A hot, dusty walk of about an hour took us to the impressive Tad Somphamit park where the waterfalls of the same name are found. They are still building what looks like will be a visitor centre but it is some way of yet. A restored waterwheel turns away and beyond that are possibly the most impressive set of small falls you may ever see. We have been to Iguazú and Niagara, yet we thought this was better. The falls may not have a huge drop but they spread over such a large area and there are not too many other people around to spoil the atmosphere. Combined with the Li Phi falls which are essentially part of the same system, it quickly becomes apparent why the French had to resort to extreme measures - the falls make the river completely unnavigable. We then followed the "Gone to Beach" signs and discovered a chill out space of shelters with a nearby bar to rest in. Had we not had a return boat to catch, we could easily have stayed there all day, even if there was no real beach and the waters were too dangerous for swimming.

Retracing our steps, we crossed the river to Don Det. This is, apparently, the party island, but that all takes place a good few kilometres north of the bridge and is nowhere near as raucous as it sounds. After lunch overlooking the river it was time to make our way back upstream. All was well until our boat hit something. There was a horrible noise and we lurched suddenly to one side. Thankfully whatever we hit did no damage to the boat but the engine did not sound good. Another boat pulled alongside us and escorted us to the bank where some running repairs were made. That meant we were able to limp back to Don Khong but we were grateful for the escort!

We hired bikes for our last day on the island. There are two loops which you can do. We chose the southern one as it was only 20km or so and there was a chance of some shade at times. We were told the northern loop offers no such luxury. The first 8km was along the road which bisects the island. The word "road" is subjective as we were quite easily able to outrun the tuk tuk and even the 4x4s which were trying to negotiate the potholes. Actually, there were more potholes than road a lot of the time! It was a very pleasant circular ride with not an awful lot to stop for. The market at Muang Sean was ok, and Russ managed to replace his broken sunglasses for just £2. Not bad for a pair of Ray Bans!!

Feeling very relaxed it was quite a wrench to leave Mali and her island, but go we must, as a pretty uncomfortable journey down to Cambodia couldn't wait any longer. A cattle truck took us over the new bridge and then waited by the main road for 20 minutes. We were then transferred to a minibus which took us another 20km to where the ferries go over to Don Det. There we changed minibus to be taken to the Cambodia border, a further 20km away. That's where the fun really began and after paying our "fixer" his rip-off fees, we walked straight through the border checks without being seen or inspected by any guards, or receiving the "health check" that we had been forced to pay for. Then we waited to get our passports back so our journey to Kratie could continue...!

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