Si Phan Don, 28 April - 4 May

Our next and final stop in Laos was Si Phan Don, or 4000 islands. This is right at the southern tip of Laos, where the Mekong is quite wide (up to 12km in the wet season), and scattered with many islands, both small rocks and quite substantial islands.

Our first night we spent in a bungalow on Don Det, one of the three main islands people stay on. The following day we went for a bicycle ride around Don Det and across the bridge to neighbouring Don Khon island.

On Don Khon we found a bit more of an idyllic atmosphere and some great accommodation, so we moved and spent the rest of our time here. Aside from quite a bit of time spent chilling out in our hammocks, we also went for a bike ride around the island, visiting a village on the opposite side for lunch and seeing other sights such as the old locomotive. Particularly impressive was the Khone waterfall; here the Mekong rushes through giant rapids, in turn forming many miniature waterfalls.

 The bike ride was a bit more adventurous than intended as we ended up sheltering from heavy rain under a tree for quite a while. We also rented some inner tubes and went floating down the Mekong, launching ourselves from one point off Don Khon, and getting back off near our accommodation. This was much in amusement to the locals, as we were the only people doing this on that stretch of the river.

French era bridge connecting Don Dhet and Don Khon

The old school in Don Khon

Unfortunately, I was once again attacked by some sort of stomach bug and spent a good few days doing not much in our room. As I couldn’t face the boat and bus ride through to Cambodia in that state, we stayed a few days longer than intended, and were quite ready to leave at the end of it.