Four Thousand Islands, Laos

Well, maybe ‘smaller and smaller’ isn’t the right phrase to describe our first Laos day’s transport. ‘Tighter and tighter’ would be more fitting. We went from train to taxi to mini-bus, to mini-bus, to tuk-tuk to sawngthaew (those ubiquitous small trucks with a covered seating in the back). Our 100km ride from Pakse to Ban Nakasang took about 3 hours in a sawngthaew. I was lucky; I stood on the metal grid at the back. Sue was jammed in with everybody else and their packages in the hard wood bench seating.

The piglets were left behind at the bus depot as there just wasn’t enough room.

We arrived at  Ban Nakasang where Sue immediately bought a large can of  Beer Laos to ease the pain. From there we took a boat to Don Khon, one of the Four Thousand Islands spread across a wide point in the Mekong River. We were delivered to a guesthouse where we spent the next three, no four, ?, days(whose counting?) cycling, swimming, lounging, eating and drinking large cold bottles of beer.

From our deck we could watch the river flow and the activity on the 100 year old French Bridge, built for the small railway that ran over Don Khon and Don Det, bypassing the incredible Li Phi Falls.

We bicycled to the falls, which are spread over a large area, and found our first swimming spot.

The photo shows our first sighting of the beach, with a group of kayakers just leaving. We swam here for a short time but later discovered our favourite beach…

Look at all that sand! And not a volleyball net in sight. Probably as it was baking hot out there. We’d cycle here, have a cool one at one of the two food places and then laze in and around the water.

We enjoyed Don Khon and it was a bit hard to leave. But we’d seen most of the sights, enjoyed the relaxation and felt it was time to move on.