End of 4000 islands

For lunch we really wanted to go the Chez Fred etc Lea, which is where we have been having breakfast but it was shut! But we were more than happy to have lunch at the amazing Indian restaurant. After lunch we decided to try out a pool that we had seen on our cycle round the island. To be honest the pool was pretty grim but it was nice to get a bit of exercise after our very lazy morning. As Don Khon was such a small island it was so easy to bump into people that you have seen around or met in a restaurant etc so it had a really lovely village feel. In particular, we met a lovely retired couple from Devon who were on their first solo, unorganised, trip. They were such a pleasure to meet and share tips and ideas of things to do or restaurants to go to, so we planned to celebrate our last night on the island with them. Fantastic food, fantastic company, our first taste of....... an incredible end to an wonderful time in Laos!

So as we are at the end of our 2nd country I thought I'd put down a few shocks that I just didn't know about or expect when coming to SEA. Plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic... I don't think I've seen so much plastic in my life and not just the use of it but the disaster that it causes. There is litter just everywhere because the villagers just can't dispose of it. Everything you get or buy will come in plastic. We have to specifically stop them putting anything we buy in plastic. Even takeaway drinks come in a plastic bag! It's truly horrible and saddening to see the effects of using so much plastic. We drink about 4-6 litres of water a day in this heat. Imagine if everyone is doing this. How many plastic bottles alone are being used! Luckily in Laos we have been able to use water fountains in hostels and if we can't we have a filter so aren't really contributing to the figures, but it's truly so sad.

UXO caused deaths in Laos. Its unbelievable to think this even still happens after so many years since the wars. 25% of the countries villages are still in UXOs and in the last decade there have been over 300 deaths in Laos due to these.Read more