Four Thousand Islands...we counted them all...
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2009
1
15
18
Trip End
Apr 20, 2010
Muang Không,
Champasak,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Typical boat in the 4,000 Islands
On October 11, we got up just before 6:00 in the morning to catch a bus up to the Cambodia-Laos border. The border guards of both countries asked for a small "extra fee" to process our passports, which is always irritating. We took a minivan a few kilometers further north, and finally took a boat across a branch of the Mekong River to arrive at Don Khong, the largest of the “Four Thousand Islands” of southern Laos. The Four Thousand Islands (or Si Phan Don, as it's called in Lao) are formed over a vast area where the Mekong spreads out and braids into hundreds of little channels, forming thousands of islands.
On the boat to Don Det
It makes for a very charming landscape, and the islands have become a popular place for tourists to kick back and chill for a while. We found a place to stay, walked around the tiny town of Don Khong, and had a pleasant dinner at a restaurant with a wide veranda built out over the river. I ate chicken “laap,” a Laos specialty which consists of finely chopped chicken marinated in mint, garlic and other spices. It is always served with sticky rice and eaten with your hands (no utensils). It was delicious.
Fields of green
The next day, we rented bikes and pedaled around the island. We encountered quaint little houses on stilts, water buffalo wallowing in puddles, vast fields of rice in various stages of growth, tarps of harvested rice laying on the asphalt to dry, and smiling, waving kids. For lunch, we stopped at a small two-table restaurant occupied by a half-dozen jovial Lao men and women.
Happy water buffalo!
We were promptly offered shots of lao-lao (rice whiskey), which was pretty powerful. A few minutes later we were served bowls of rice noodles with beef and liver chunks. We ate between sporadic attempts at conversation with the men (who were fascinated by us but spoke little English). We left lunch with smiles on our faces from the positive interactions.
View from the boat
On October 13 an hour-long boat ride delivered us to another of the Four Thousand Islands, Don Det. After finding some lodging and food, we again rented bikes and went exploring.
Li Phi waterfall - amazing
After pedaling past dozens of emerald rice fields and bamboo huts, we arrived at Li Phi falls, an enormous, spectacular waterfall where a large portion of the Mekong River thunders down jagged rocks. At a small restaurant for dinner that night, McNeill ordered a pumpkin burger, not entirely sure what she was getting into. It turned out to be the tastiest veggie-burger that either of us have ever eaten!The next morning, we took a boat back across the Mekong to the mainland and caught a bus to Pakse.
