4000 Islands is a mass of smallish islands scattered amongst the Meekong at the southern end of Laos. We chose to stop at Don Det - one of the smaller islands and explore what we could from there. On arrival, from Pakse on the bus, we found our way to the small boat harbour and exchanged our bus tickets for a ticket across the river to Don Det. We were lucky enough to be the first on the ferry/boat and met Steve the boat driver and asked him where was a good place to stay away from the riff-raff and noisy younger tourists. Steve simply suggested we stay on the boat and come to the south of the island with him and he will show us a nice little spot to relax. Just like he suggested everyone got off the boat on the north of the island and made there way to the busier strip of hostels and guest houses. We then made our way to the southern end of the island to Steve's place 'Mr Bouasone - Guest House.
On the afternoon of our arrival to Don Det Steve took us for a small excursion up the Meekong to Monk Island so some of us could have a swim and then to a few smaller sand traps to try our luck fishing. I caught one small catfish - which later appeared in someone's fish soup. It was a great afternoon and the sunset was very special and picturesque as it battled to shine through the approaching storm.
Trying our luck - Fishing in the Mekong -------->
Ann was very handy with the fish rod - unlike many of the others who had a go -and ended up in the Meekong fishing out the hooked up line!!!!
On our way back to Steve's, his wife <----------------requested we stop off and pick some vegetables from a tree in the middle of the Meekong - apparently it is soaked for a few days then washed and cooked!!!!
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| Sunset on the Mekong - 4000 Islands - Laos |
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| Our $2 bungalow - with complimentary hammocks and mosquito net - could have stayed here a lot longer! |
On walk-a-bout round the island....
Hardly any of the houses on the island had hot water or flush toilets
some didn't even have walls, and they only got 24hour electricity 3
years ago........ but they ALL have the most important thing for
survival on an island....... Satellite TV .
The road around the island was a one lane track - accessible by moto or bicycle - through the middle of the island was a bigger dirt track for cars.
It was really hot so we had to wear scarf's on our shoulders and heads.....
This bridge links Don Det to Don Khone - visitors pay a dollar to access the island to visit the waterfalls and southern tip where you can see the boarders of Laos and Cambodia.
Bike riding to find the waterfalls
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| Khone Falls, Don Khone, 4000 islands, Laos |
The boarder of Laos and Cambodia, also a place to spot Irrawaddi Dolphins - not that we saw any!!
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| Steve's daughter climbed the tree to pick a fresh coconut every time someone ordered one |
Don Det was one of our favourite places we have visited so far - we would definitely like to come back and explore this area further in the not too distant future.
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