Off On Our Next Adventure

Our van journey from Pakse took about 3 hours, and it was enjoyable watching the countryside fly by out the window. We arrived in Nakasong around 3pm, where we found our awaiting boat about 200 metres from where we were dropped off.

We crossed the loading platform to the boat that would take us to Don Khone Island on the Mekong. The longtail boat was narrow, so we needed to sit single file, with all our luggage stored at the front.

Once we were all seated, we made our way downstream for about twenty minutes, enjoying counting the many islands that we passed along the way. The name 4000 Islands comes from the fact that there are literally thousands of small islands created from the Mekong expanding to more than 4km in width at this point. Obviously, there are more in dry season, as rainy season obscures some of them. Most are uninhabited, save for a few of the much larger ones, including Don Khone, Don Khong, and Don Det.

Making our way downstream on the swollen, mud-coloured Mekong in this tiny boat made us feel very adventurous…it was definitely the smallest boat that we had travelled in and made us also feel a little bit vulnerable.

We focused on our surroundings as we went, pointing out the sights and sounds along the way…birds flying low over the water, the houses lining the banks, perilously close to the river’s edge, and people fishing or going about their business on the river.

When we arrived at the Don Khone ‘pier’, we disembarked onto another floating platform and then had to balance our way across a one plank ‘bridge’ to dry land.

It was slightly nerve-wracking, but we all made it just fine and stayed dry. From here, we walked to Pan’s Guesthoue, which was conveniently located about 200 metres from the pier. We had booked it because it had a pool, as well as air-conditioning in its bungalows, although the air-conditioning turned out to be a little erratic due to heavy rainfall at night causing power cuts across the island. Our first night there was rather warm because no power also meant no fan either, and we all slept sheetless under mosquito nets. For NZ$60 a night for two rooms, we weren’t going to complain.

A Welcome Dip

The pool was great, situated right on the river bank. The kids had jumped in within 10 minutes of our arrival, and we followed soon after, as the heat in the sunshine here was markedly warmer than the cooler region we had just come from. Over the next few days, we would enjoy lots more pool time! Our host, Miss Pan, was kind and welcoming and looked after us very well over the next few days.

A Morning Stroll

The following day, I went for a walk in the morning, which proved to be a very hot experience in the late morning sun. Still, I enjoyed the serenity of the island, because with only one road snaking around Don Khone, and the odd motorcycle passing by, it was very peaceful.

Most of the land here is used for rice farming, and there are cows and buffalo wandering around. Many of them have bells on, so that farmers are alerted to their whereabouts. It’s real free-range grazing!

After my walk, I joined the others for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Trying to find something that appeared to be open on this sleepy island proved to be a bit of a mission at this point in the low season. Everywhere we walked past appeared to be deserted and if we did walk in somewhere, it took a few minutes for someone to appear, roused from their resting place of hammocks or daybeds…we were wondering if it was like parts of the Mediterranean where everyone shuts down for their mid afternoon siesta, as it certainly appeared that way.

Eventually, a place just down from our guesthouse served us yummy baguettes for lunch and then we enquired about hiring motor scooters for the next day so we could explore all of Don Khone and neighboring Don Det, which is connected by the old French Bridge, built in 1910.

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming and catching up on blogs and some homeschool, before eating a yummy local dinner down the road.

Exploring Don Det

The next day, we collected the scooters we had hired and set off around the island. Like Tioman Island in Malaysia, there wasn’t a helmet in sight, nor were there any available to hire with the scooters, so we drove cautiously. Thankfully, the road was like a good quality, concrete driveway back home, nice and flat, with minimal traffic.

We decided to look around Don Det first, and made our way across the bridge before heading right towards the main centre of Don Det.

It was a bit busier than Don Khone, with lots of guesthouses, restaurants, and bars. We stopped at a welcoming little place called Adam’s Bar for a cold drink and a few games of pool. No beers for us though, as Shaun and I were still continuing our break from drinking alcohol, we had gone alcohol free for a month. It’s been interesting doing this, as both of us really enjoy a cold beer or glass of wine, however it’s been years since we’ve consciously abstained from drinking, so it’s probably long overdue! Both of us are sleeping better, have lost a few extra kilos and wake up each day feeling refreshed and energetic. We intend to maintain our alcohol free lifestyle for the rest of the trip unless we happen to meet up with friends at some point, and we feel like having a few social drinks. The other huge bonus is the money we have saved by sticking to water, fruit shakes, and soft drinks, which means we can do more activities.

Just down the road from the bar, we spotted these guys doing some fishing off an old bridge that looked like it had seen better days. They showed us their catch and had caught a few fish already.

We then made our way around the island, which was mostly farmland and rice fields.

After our afternoon of exploring, we were pretty warm, so we went back for a swim before dinner. We got home in the evening just before the torrential rain started, which continued overnight, affecting the power again. There was an incredible thunder and lightning display, and Shaun snapped this picture of the sky lit up at night.

Exploring Don Khone

The following morning, we had the scooters until mid afternoon, so we had plenty of time to explore Don Khone. As we set out, we came across the first of many cows wandering along the road.

Our first mission was to find the waterfall in the Mekong which has a lot of history surrounding it. We drove halfway around the island to where we paid a small fee to cross this wooden bridge over a small river and walk a couple of hundred metres to the Mekong waterfall.

On the way, we passed this beautiful little pagoda, situated near the waterfall.

With the rainy season flow, it wasn’t quite as picturesque as some of the photos we had seen, and it actually looked pretty treacherous, with tumultuous surges of muddy, brown water cascading over huge rocks.

Historically, this waterfall prevented boat traffic from continuing down the Mekong, so in the late 1800s, the French decided to build a railway that transported boats across the island in order to bypass the waterfall. The bridge that is still in use today was part of this development on the island.

This old photograph below showed the railway in action.

You can still see evidence of the old railway and its ramps on Don Khone in these photos that Shaun took on his solo exploration later in the day.

After the waterfall, we made our way back to our guesthouse so the kids could have a swim and a late lunch.

Shaun was keen to look around a bit more, so he went off on the scooter alone while I stayed back with the kids. On his travels, he visited the site where, up until only a year ago, you could view Irrawaddy dolphins swimming in the Mekong.

Unfortunately, these dolphins are critically endangered because they are so often caught as bycatch through unsustainable fishing techniques, and despite a few locals’ efforts to change fishing practices to be more eco-friendly, the last Irrawaddy dolphin in Laos was caught in a net and died in 2022. Now, the only Irrawaddy dolphins are in Kraitie, Cambodia, but at last count, there were only 88 of them left in the Mekong.

This is the unfortunate trend with a lot of the endangered species in Southeast Asia, and unless governments really get behind conservation and enforce it, things are only going to get worse. As we saw from the bears in Luang Prabang, and the elephants in Thailand, there is still huge money being made from illegal wildlife trading and exploitation. This, combined with unsustainable hunting and fishing practices, as well as hydroelectric dam construction upriver and environmental pollution, mean that things won’t be turning around anytime soon until education and law enforcement improve in these areas.

Local Healthcare

Fortunately, throughout our visit to Laos, we didn’t require any medical assistance at all, as all the travel guides say to go straight to Thailand if you need any medical attention for more than minor complaints. On Don Khone, the local clinic is in a rather sorry state, housed in a run-down old villa. Saying that, it’s better than nothing, and it’s good that the locals can get some health services here.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sorting our bookings for onward travel and chatting by the pool to the lovely French travellers who were also staying at our guesthouse.

While I was booking accommodation in Siem Reap, Shaun was busy doing a stocktake of our collection of shampoo, shower gel, and toothbrushes, collected from various places we’ve stayed at. As much as I tell him off for taking the leftovers from our stays, I’m always grateful for this supply when we’re at budget accommodation where we have to supply our own!

A Last Swim and Sunset on the Mekong

We had all really enjoyed the pool with its beautiful view at Miss Pan’s Guesthouse and made the most of our last afternoon there, staying in the water until close to sunset.

With no pool toys, it’s been great watching the kids invent games in the pool and use water bottles for entertainment as flotation devices…necessity breeds invention!

We were treated to some beautiful sunsets while staying on Don Khone.

On our last night, Shaun snapped this gorgeous photo below, which pretty much sums up the vibe of the place…chilled, peaceful, and beautiful.

We shared some Laotian dishes down the road for our last meal in Laos before getting a good night’s sleep ahead of our long journey. The following day, we would be crossing the border to Cambodia and travelling to Siem Reap.