The Four Thosuand Islands (of which we saw 3).

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Hey guys - thought I'd inform you of the rest of Laos whilst I have a bit of time spare.

We made it to Pakse, in the south of the country, and decided that there was nothing there. So, we immediatly got a local 'bus' towards Si Phan Don, otherwise known as the Four Thousand Islands.

This bus wasn't a bus - it was a converted truck, with 3 wooden benches in the back, which run parallel to the direction of travel - which is known as a 'Jumbo'. We managed to fit 28 people in it - including some on hanging on the back, and one on the roof, along with all our rucksacks and things. That was one of the least confortable 3 hour journeys of my life.

Occasionally, the truck would stop at a seemingly random spot on the road, and locals would try to sell snacks (unidendified chicken parts on a stick; roasted-beetle shish-kebab etc) to those of us on the bus. We felt we could restrain ourselves from purchasing any.

Si Phan Don is a collection lots of islands, but the main ones to visit are Don Det and Don Khon (smaller and further south) and Don Khong. When we got to the riverbank, we collectivly decided to go largest of the islands, Don Khong. The biggest Island had to be the best, right?

Wrong. There were 4 guest houses, and a road, and a couple of places that served food - but no chicken or vegetables, because they didn't seem to have any that day. Or week, possibly. And that was it. We bumped into some Dutch girls, who had been there one night, and we dying for some company - they were more or less the only tourists on the island.

After a fairly sedate evening, we set off for Don Det, which turned out to be much more interesting. Loads of restaurants, cool riverside bungalow guest houses (complete with hammocks for the hippies), and a few bars. The scenery was also much nicer that on Don Khong. We rented bikes to see what was about on the Island the first day, and found an old railway bridge that links Don Det to Don Khon. We later found out that this was the only railway line the french built in the entire time they owned Laos. Lazy lot.

Anyway, went to see a waterfall across there, and had a good ride about.

The next day, we took a boat out to see some river dolphins - the area is famous for being home to the Irrawaddy Dolphins, who appear at certain times of the year. We saw a few actually - apparently more than is normal - and then went to see another waterfall, called Khone Phapheng, which is claimed to be the biggest in south-east asia. Wasn't that impressive, actually - turns out biggest means by volume, not height or anything. Still good to see though.

The next day, we had an early start, in order to try to get to Vietnam - there is a border crossing called Lao Bao about halfway up vietnam, which we intended to use. Unfortunatly, we underestimated how long it would take to get there, so are in Savannakhet, a city that is the nearest big place to stay, and we will cross tomorrow.

Not too much to do here either, but we had a great meal tonight - went to a Korean BBQ place and had a 'Steamboat' - a round, shallow dish with a lump in the middle which is constantly heated by a bucket of coals suspended underneath it. You put soup in the dish, and meat on the lump, and then cook the lot, along with noodles and veg which you cook in the hot soup. Great fun - mucked about for hours!

Anyway, Vietnam tomorrow. Sorry to be leaving Laos, to be honest, and that is taking the excitement out of going to a new country a bit, but I'm sure we'll love it when we get there. Also, have to contend with border officials and a messed up passport too - fun and games!

Hope everbody is OK back home!

Simon

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Photos

Dolphin Spotting
We aren't just basking on a rock - this is serious scientific research.