Heatwave & 4 Thousand Islands

Continuing with our southern Laos travels, we hopped on a mini bus for a three and a half hour trip to Don Det, part of the 4,000 Islands.

Map of 4,000 Islands

Four thousand islands is a laidback and sleepy, close to the  Laos on the Cambodian border, and as the name suggests, consists of lots of tiny islands scattered in the vast Mekong Delta. Also known as ‘Si Phan Don’ in Lao, most of the islands are uninhabited and the area has not long had electricity.

There are two islands to choose from. Don Khone being the more quieter or Don Det being a bit more busier with the backpacker crowd.  Looking forward to having conversations with our fellow travellers, we chose Don Det.

Purchasing a bus/boat combo ticket through 12go which we have used quite a few times before to book internal trains, boats and buses.

Boat transfer from Nakasong to Don Det

Don Det Dock

It was hot!  Phew, we were sweating buckets as we walked to our guesthouse.   We stayed in the lovely Baba Guesthouse, run by a Frenchman, with a balcony overlooking the river.

Baba Guesthouse

The new concrete path is dotted with a few restaurants, a few bars, guesthouses and a couple of convenience shops before it extends around the island.

Wandering around, we wondered where all these people were.  Maybe they’d melted into the ground.  As time went on, we came to learn that this was it. This was as busy as it gets.  Okay, so this was going to take a bit of getting used to especially after the craziness of the big cities.

One side of he path had restaurants and bars that overlooked the Mekong river as it channeled its way through the islands.  We loved sitting here with a coffee or beer, depending on the time of day, watching the various every day life happenings of the people who lived here.  It was dreamily relaxing.

Sunset on the Mekong River

One place we loved was on the point of the island called Souksan Sunset restaurant.  Sitting at the high bench, with a cold beer in hand, watching the sun set on the Mekong.  This was one of our ‘pinch yourself moments, disbelieving that were actually here.  Just magical.

As we sat watching the sunset we watched this group of young people, sitting in big inner tubes. This looked so peaceful, we must do this!

As we walked back to our guesthouse Kevin introduced me to this lovely English couple he'd met earlier. We were telling them about the group we'd seen on the inner tubes and how much fun they seemed to be having. We all agreed to watch the sunset together on the Mekong tomorrow night. Yay, we'd made a plan and this was truly a unique one.

Our new holiday friends Zillah & Chris.

Endeavoring to cool down somewhat, we enjoyed a meal at one of the restaurants lining the river. There was absolutely no breeze, not even a whisper and it was so quiet, apart from the odd long boat puttering along.

This would be the end of our first day on Don Det and the Four Thousand Islands.

XOXO

Donna & Kevin