We stated Laos with one of our favourite places we have been on this trip (Luang Prabang) and in 4000 Islands we ended in another favourite. Right at the bottom of Laos by the Cambodian border, the Mekong river swells and widens to 18 km wide creating an incredible area of seemingly thousands of islands (hence the name!). Some are just tiny specks with a lone tree on then. Everything we had read, everyone we had talked to, pointed at 4000 Islands being a place where you can get stuck by the incredible tranquility, beauty and sense of isolation here. So it proved to be the case for us, extending our stay twice to five days in total. We picked the island of Don Det which has more of a backpacker feel and is a little busier than Don Kong and Don Kohn (the other two island destinations in the area), but is still pretty quiet.
On the morning of 15th Feb, we took a bus from Pakse down to the small river town of Ban Nakasang. We hopped in a large longtail boat alongside a good 15 other tourists and made the 15 minute crossing to Don Det island. This was our first glimpse of the gorgeous and tranquil scenery at this spot on the Mekong: islands of different shapes and sizes everywhere, clear dark alluring waters, locals fishing or just passing through on boats, and everywhere beautifully green. The “port” is just a small beach and a basic platform to disembark. We walked up the main street of Don Det village, which has a handful of restaurants and shops. There are no cars or ATMs on the whole island. The port/ village sits at the very north tip of the island, so after walking south for about 100 metres you have a choice: turn right to the east, sunset side, or left to the sunrise side. We had been told the sunset side was the more “happening” side so turned right. Despite being still morning, it felt madly hot walking with our backpacks for a good 20 minutes, scouting out possible bungalows. Don Det is simply perfect for budget accommodation. Basic wooden stilted bungalows on the river front for as low as $5 per night. We settled initially for a spot with basic bamboo huts called “Peace and Love”. The views looking out across the water and countless green islands was incredible.
We quite quickly realised that we needed to find a different place… The room was unbearably hot and a thicker ceiling to the mosquito net prevented any air from the fan from reaching the bed. Sitting outside didn’t help much either as the sun gradually kept over to the south-east in the afternoon and it was practically still wind-wise. So, we offered to pay $2 and moved on to a similar spot a little way up the river where the huts were a bit more solid and the fan more effective!
Having set up (again) we went off exploring, with the main aim to find a spot that was relatively cool and good to stop and chill for a while. While not quite a stoner island, Don Det certainly does attract its fair share of people who want to come and smoke joints for two weeks in tranquility. It seems 4,000 islands is either too remote for the authorities to care, or there is some kind of understanding locals come to with the government given the tourism factor… Either way we found the overall vibe to be more chill than stoner and the occasional whifs of weed were not too overpowering as some tourists have complained about.
After trying a couple of spots, we realised that the sunrise side of the island was the breeziest and coolest. We spent some time relaxing, reading and writing at “Mr. Mo’s Cafe” that came to be our favourite hang out spot with plenty of shade and breeze, good coffee and fantastic views over the water. We returned to the sunset side for sunset and for a bite to eat at “Sunset Bar” – as the naming suggests, the sunset over this Mekong waterland was indeed beautiful! That evening, we returned to relax in our hammocks. Being battered by the heat of the sun all afternoon meant that our room was roasting, even with the fan, well into the night…
Waking up on the 16th Feb, we decided to move (again), but this time to the brazier sunrise side. We also discovered a grumpy group of French lads that we seemingly kept bumping into since Thakhek were staying a few huts down from us so we were not too upset to be leaving that minor awkwardness behind as well! There was no real rush (as with everything in Laos, and Don Det in particular of course!), so we left our bags at our previous digs and went for a sensational Shakshuka breakfast at a spot just up the road from us. Morning was the best time to be on the sunset side we decided (having now seen the sunset!). We wondered towards the sunrise side and quite quickly found a good spot, with a larger, en-suite bungalow with a big terrace and hammocks overlooking the river, for thr slightly steeper, but very reasonable price of $7 per day. We quickly came to meet the local tout working for this place, who, hilariously, turned out to be a Yorkshireman in his 60s called Adrian. Adrian was exceptionally skinny, is rarely seen without a joint in his hands and would prove to be a real character over the next 4 nights we stayed here! In amongst the nonsense it was genuinely interesting listening to what a seasoned traveller and stoner like himself had to say about his travels and experiences. Adrian’s first few words of wisdom to us were “welcome to paradise my friends… this is what Asia used to be like everywhere”. It was certainly interesting to think of places like Bali being like this as recently as the 80s…
We decided to hire two tubes (much like those in Vang Vieng) as our main “activity” for the day! We first launched from the small beach at the port area and tried to paddle around to the sunset side. We gave up and came back as the currents were against us, and, instead, walked over to the sunset side where we paddled to a little island about 100m away. We found a lovely little beach and sat reading in the shade of some reeds for a good while, taking a dip into the calm, clear waters too cool off when we needed. After a while, a Dutch couple swam past us, blaring music out of a speaker in a waterproof bag, to the other side of the tiny island we were on. Going for a swim later ourselves, it became obvious the music they were blaring was to cover up them having sex… After returning our tubes, we had a surprisingly superb burger for lunch at “4000 Islands Bar”. For somewhere so remote the Western food was particularly good – we suspected this is because of the relatively large number of expats (many British) who have made this island their home.
We transported our stuff over to our new digs, and, hilariously, found that Adrian had almost given our bungalow away to someone else – he probably forgot given all the smoking! After relaxing in our hammocks for a bit, Adrian returned to try and sell us his literary masterpiece. He had survived a terrifying flash flood in Bukit Lawang in Sumatra, 2004, in which 250 were killed, and been inspired to write a book about his experiences travelling. The book is called “Southeast Asia: In Yer Face”. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nobody back in the UK wanted to publish it, so Adrian has been selling the book himself, ringbound and printed in Pakse. He has been doing this for a number of years now to raise a bit of extra cash and he is quite good at it! “Best fucking book very written” he says, highlighting that the stories within are totally unique. He even has a hand drawn grid where he tracks how many copies have been bought by different nationalities. In the end, it proved too hilarious and different an opportunity to pass up so we bought a copy. George read it over the next couple of days. The first half is a collection of moderately interesting and amusing short stories from his travels, while the second half was a strange appraisal / overview of each country in Southeast Asia, with massively generalised statements based on no actual research or rigour. It was certainly an experience to read and a very different souvenir to take home! That evening we hit the strip for a drink and a curry and reflected on a very relaxed first full day and a good decision to move to the cooler, eastern side of the island!
The next day (17th Feb) we had a very relaxed morning, eventually getting ourselves over to the sunset side for an outrageously tasty “smoothie bowl” which was the perfect sugary breakfast disguised as healthy with a mix of granola and fruit. We hired bicycles for a dollar each, to get around quickly and explore more of the island later in the afternoon. We spent a good two hours just chilling in our hammocks and grabbed samosas for lunch.
In the afternoon, we went on a bicycle tour, first heading south where the path quickly became more rural with the string of bungalows and restaurants giving way to rice paddies, fields and a few local houses. We turned right through the dry centre of the island and came to the southern end after about 20 minutes (it is not a big island!). We crossed the old French bridge connecting Don Det to the adjacent island, Don Kong, with stunning views of palm and coconut-lined river coastline on either side. On the Don Kong side of the bridge, we came to a large old French steam locomotive parked under a shelter. Reading the information boards provided a fascinating insight into the history of these islands. The French saw the Mekong as an potential trade route opening into China. The problem was that at 4,000 islands the river swells and then crashes down a series of huge waterfalls, making it impassable for any steamers intending to make the journey. The engineering solution the French devised, was to construct a railway track from the south of Don Kong to the north of Don Det and lift boats onto trains before transporting them to beyond the falls! We realised that the road we had come down (including the bridge) had been that very railway!
Seeing these islands in an entirely different context, we continued to the huge Liphi waterfalls, stopping at a picturesque local temple en route. The falls were like nothing we have ever seen. Because of the sheer size of the river, it is the breadth of the waterfall rather than the height that makes it impressive. Lush green and tranquil waters give way to dark rocky landscape and crashing water with the river being diverted around countless smaller channels and falls, in search of the path of least resistance down.
We cycled back over the bridge and up the western (sunset) side of Don Det. On the way, Katharine made friends with a very cute group of piglets and we stopped at an isolated beach bar called Mad Monkey Bar on a little island in the middle of jungly wetlands. The place was surreal and felt a bit like the film “The Beach”. We had a Laos whiskey and coke each and sat here for about half an hour, taking in this superbly relaxing spot with at most 20 other people there. We had a quick dip in the river and hopped back on our bikes as the sun was setting. That evening we had a DIY hotpot/ barbecue at a restaurant just down the road from our bungalow and just watched TV in bed.
The 18th of Feb was our most active day on the island: we decided to go on a kayaking and sight seeing day trip! We met the group at our favourite Mr. Mo’s cafe where we had breakfast and got ourselves sorted with life vests and paddles. We set off with a big group of around 30 from just below the restaurant. We were surprised by the diversity of the group (making a change from majority French), with a good mix of people from across Europe, the UK, USA and even Brazil. There was a French family with two girls aged around 10 and 13, on the trip, who we had also seen on the Thakhek loop a few days before. Speaking to them, we learned that they had left France with the plan to live cheaply on the move, travelling for around 3 years! A seriously gutsy move and it made us simultaneously both impressed and very sceptical about the decision to take their girls out of school for so long. They apparently weren’t even home schooling… On the one hand, we couldn’t help but think about the longer term damage of being out of the system and behind with everything around how modern society judges success in young people. On the other, the girls came across as very confident, were clearly learning a lot more broadly on their travels, and both spoke superb English for their ages…
The trip started with a 30 minute kayak to a different island. We then walked to one of the many impressive waterfalls that are scattered around this part of the Mekong. While not as impressive as the Liphi falls from yesterday, the more manageable size meant we were able to swim in the big pools that formed 50 metres or so away from the bottom of the waterfall itself. It was good fun swimming in the refreshing water and jumping in from rocks, though you had to be on your toes with the strong currents. After our swim, we walked for another 20 minutes or so to a spot beyond the falls where our kayaks had been transported to. We had a lunch of barbecue, fried rice and fruit here in beautifully green scenery.
We had been warned by our guide that we would eventually come to rapids and that “some of you will capsize”. This warning was a little ominous for non-experienced kayakers like ourselves, although we were all given reassuring instruction on how to best navigate the rapids and what to do if we capsize. So, we got back into our kayaks after lunch and headed towards the rapids! We weren’t entirely sure what to expect, but it effectively was a large patch of water where the currents grew particularly strong and we started encountering big waves. We turned so that we faced directly into the waves and had a relatively hairy moment when we were knocked sideways by a wave and vulnerable to capsizing but managed to recover and get through the 5 minutes or so of rapids.
We paddled on past a massive hydroelectric dam to our left and after about 20 more minutes we arrived at a wide open area in the river that felt like a lake. This is the home of the 3 remaining Irrawaddy dolphins in this part of the Mekong. That’s right, 3. There used to be thousands of these magnificent mammals living here but overfishing has systematically killed them off and closed off their habitat. This area, right on the border with Cambodia, (we apparently briefly paddled into Cambodia) is a protected pool for this last remaining family. Given the tiny number of them left, we were sceptical of the likelihood of us seeing them. But after sitting still for about 5 minutes on our kayaks, somebody spotted them! For the next 20 minutes we all kept quiet and looked for the 2 dolphins (1 must have been elsewhere!) to re-emerge for air and paddle towards the area we thought they were travelling. It was a really magical moment seeing these precious, perilously endangered creatures.
The group paddled about 15 minutes to shore and we helped load the kayaks onto the trucks that were there to collect us. Our next stop before heading back towards Don Det, however, were the Khone Papheng Falls – the largest waterfalls in Southeast Asia. This was the third and without doubt most impressive of the falls we had seen in 4000 Islands. Simply terrifying volumes of water crash through every second, covering a vast area of rocky, craggy, watery landscape. We grabbed an ice cream and walked down to the river about 100 metres from the bottom of the falls, to soak up the scene and get a sense of the sheer force of the water.
We piled into the truck again, with two lucky ones standing out from the back and hanging on, and drove for 30 minutes or so back to the village of Ban Nakasang. We made an ATM stop given there are no cash machines on Don Det and returned to the the sea front to launch our kayaks one last time. We made the 30 minute crossing to Don Det and helped load the kayaks back under the stilts of Mr. Mo’s cafe. It had been a great day out although certainly something of a shock to the system being on a tight schedule with a big group after a few days of serious relaxation levels! We had an Indian meal near our bungalows and then headed to a bar on the sunset side for a quick drink. We could hear the “half moon jungle party” that was going on a kilometre or so further south and George couldn’t resist from walking down to have a look, even though we both knew we were not really up for partying. Much like everything on Don Det, it was very low key, with perhaps around 20 people standing around with some basic disco lights going and a massive sound system. We went to bed instead!
19th Feb was, finally, our last day on this blissfully tranquil island. In true Don Det fashion, we did pretty well nothing! This was our half way point of the megamoon and also a good point to reflect on how much we had already done. It was weird to think how much more we had ahead of us! We had muesli and coffees at our local favourite, Mr. Mo’s, and then spent most of the day just relaxing at our newly discovered “Reggae Bar” near the port which has fantastic hammocks and cushion space overlooking the stunning river scenery we just wanted to pack up and take with us for the rest of our trip. We were even lazy food-wise, having mash potato and spring rolls for lunch (it was great mash…!) and some rubbish noodles at Adam’s bar just next door for dinner. We spent the evening reading and watching highlights from the BAFTAs on our tablet.
We set off early the next day (20th Feb) in the island longtail ferry for our long journey to Cambodia and Siem Reap. We were leaving Don Det and Laos with a heavy heart. Laos had been hands down our favourite country of the trip so far with incredible variety of scenery, superb food, genuinely lovely, warm people, the best beer of southeast asia in Beerlao, the cheapest whiskey we have ever drank, the most bougainvillea we have ever seen, the biggest cave we have been in, rare river dolphins and a tropical island paradise, despite being a landlocked country. In Luang Prsbang we had the perfect start and in Don Det we had the perfect end to help us feel recharged and refreshed for the onwards journey.
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