Ban Hangkhon

We started our day off by crossing over the Cambodia/Laos border through immigration and handing over multiple ‘service fees’ in addition to our visa charges as we walked across the border lines. Then we were pleasantly surprised to be met at the border before realising we had to get on a moto each with all of our bags! Luckily, it was only a 15 minute ride to an unknown ‘port’ (back garden of a local’s house) to get in our next transport which was a small wooden boat. This took us across the Mekong between Cambodia and Laos to the very southern tip of one of the Four Thousand islands, ‘Don Khon’ (sometimes with an e).
We got off to be greeted by Oliva, our host at Pomelo Guesthouse. It was a small place consisting of two bungalows on stilts and a restaurant area. The room is very spacious with a separate living area overlooking the Mekong.
We did notice however, a lack of glass in the windows and unfortunately we are back to a fan only room. The only way to hide from the bugs is under the mosquito net around the bed. We got ourselves some lunch and tried the local dish ‘Laab’ which is Thai/Lao dish made with many herbs and spices. Then we thought it was the right time for a nap during the hottest part of the day. Once refreshed and it had cooled down a bit we headed out to explore the area around where we were staying. It’s a very rural area where most houses are fairly basic on stilts with nearly every family having a few dogs, chickens and satellite dishes. We found a small school which had been funded by World Challenge and also a French port which they had built during French occupation in the 1800’s and then marched our way up a stairway to a viewpoint which was mostly overgrown by trees (and ants) but still gave us a good view.
After some games of UNO and Rummy we had dinner in a restaurant next door. We were the only people there apart from their family who congregated on the floor in front of a small TV. Regardless, they made us feel welcome and cooked us a cracking local dinner.Read more