lazy days on an island in the Mekong

---

I spent the last nine days thoroughly relaxing in the 4000 Islands, a bit touristy, but still very laidback part of Laos near the Cambodian border where there are as many water buffaloes as people, and the only electricity available is supplied from generators... It was such a beautiful place, I really regret not taking more photographs, but my camera battery ran out, and I had a lot of trouble recharging it!

Going for a walk, there were so many palm trees everywhere, which really made you feel like you were at the beach, which was great for relaxing. I did see a couple of sort-of beaches on another island (patches of sand on riverbanks), and I think there would have been more had it not been for rainy season. But because the water level was so high, a lot of the islands in the area were underwater.

Most of the people living on these islands are farmers, although a lot of people now have guesthouses also. The pace of life is really slow, and every second person you see is napping in a hammock! While I was there a baker from Western Australia had just started his own business venture of selling fresh bread, doughnuts and cakes from his bicycle to tourists in the late afternoon. Asking him about what he spent his time doing, he seriously did not do much at all. He said it's the sort of place where if you don't feel like getting up in the morning, there is nothing stopping you from sleeping in all day. I really did feel as if I spent half my time in my hammock. I stayed in a simple yet beautiful bamboo bungalow on the riverfront with my own verandah and hammock for only $1 a night!

I did manage to go and see a couple of waterfalls while I was there, which were really spectacular because of all the water in the Mekong. But I had a bit of a frightening experience being on a boat near the top of a waterfall, which was rapidly being drawn closer to the edge... I was with a group of people, one of which had wanted to see this waterfall and I had just blindly gone along with this trip, not knowing what it would involve. I had no idea the guy driving the boat was just planning on taking us as close as possible to the edge of the waterfall and turning the engine off, so that it felt like the rapids were going to push us over the edge. At what seemed like the last second he turned the engine on, and it really seemed to take what felt like an hour to make our way against the current away from the waterfall...

After nine days of doing very little I am now back in Pakse and have spent today preparing for my cycling trip which I will start tomorrow. I am planning on cycling a loop of about 200km, which might take me 4 or 5 days depending on how many stops I make. A Dutch guy I met has assured me there are guesthouses about every 30km, so it should all be fine!

---

Comments

[lisa]

lazy days allowed before 200km cycling tour
Well, why would you bother getting up and working if you can have luxury accommodation for $1 a day (yeah a hammock is luxury)! G'luck for the cycling tour... nice to read the updates. Ta ra! L