FOUR THOUSAND ISLANDS ( or so ) -Laos

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Laos is a land-locked country and is ironically the home of Four Thousand Islands, an area in the deep south of Laos near the border of Cambodia.

Four Thousand Islands are islands in the mighty Mekong River where the river fans out over the vast plains. During the dry season, four thousand islands are exposed by the shallowness of the river. Though l doubt if anyone has actually counted them and l have been unable to find out the significance of the number, four thousand. During the wet season, the Mekong can span out to a width of over 10km.

There are two ways to get there, from the south over the Cambodian border, or from the north through Pakse.

Pakse is a non-descript town about 10 hrs south of the Laos capital,Vientiane, on a VIP over-night bus. Booking buses in Asia is always a lottery. No amount of photos, promises or price are guarantee of what you will actually end up riding on. But in this instance, there is actually a comfortable clean bus with wide lay-back seats & blanket provided.

Pakse is only worth staying for its proximity to the Bolaven Plateau & that is well worth staying for, with its spectacular waterfalls, coffee plantations, indigenous villages & markets.

Pakse to Si Phan Don ( Four Thousand Islands) takes a couple of hours or so by van & boat. There are 3 main islands, Don Khong is apparently the largest, I have never been there.

Don Det & Don Kon are the most popular with a bridge in between. It is an easy bicycle ride around & apparently the rare & critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin has been sighted from the bridge. There is also an easy bike-ride to the largest waterfall by volume in SE Asia. It's massive & during the wet season, it is frightening to watch.

The islands are lay-back & lovely. Good guesthouses & restaurants are plentiful and hammocks hang everywhere which adds to the lay-back easy feel of the place. Happy soup, happy shakes & happy pizzas are available.

It is an exceptional place to breathe & absorb rural river-life and the local Laos people are exceedingly friendly in the nicest possible way.

Before electricity, only a few years ago, there were no distractions and children ran wild & swam, and Laos families sat outside and talked & laughed, sharing meals & drinking Beer Laos. That all still exists but to a lesser degree as more people are now have access to TV & electronic games.

From Si Phan Don to Cambodia can be booked at agencies on the islands but there can always be little scams when being so isolated. I personally was duped when booking a bus ticket from Si Phan Don to Siem Reap, ended up in Phnom Penh. Also there is always a bit of a fiddle at the border with visas & money. Nothing much. And vice versa when travelling north from Cambodia.

Four Thousand Islands is the perfect place to catch up & enjoy the company of fellow travellers. Its not on the well trodden trek of SE Asia so it therefore whittles out those less comfortable with the bare-arsed backpacking style of Four Thousand Islands. It takes some research & a rethink to get there. Travellers that stretch their way there are generally interesting people with interesting travel tales of places I have yet to go.

Four Thousand Islands is uniquely beautiful attracting a unique kind of traveller.

And the magnificent Mekong River is a dominating presence. The river flows through several counties in SE Asia but it spends most of its time in lovely Laos. And there is nothing better than hanging out in a hammock by the Mekong River in Si Phan Don, sipping on a Beer Laos, the best beer in SE Asia.

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