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Laos

February 2018
A 27-day adventure by Shahnavaz Read more
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  • TravelerLaos
    Day 23

    Si Pan Don (4000 Islands)

    February 23, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Well after a rocky start the sleeper bus was actually OK. It wasn't our best night sleep but we were able to nap in parts. Will couldn't fit in the bed so it was a bit of a squeeze. We arrived into Pakse and decided to keep moving south and just spend our last week in Si Pan Don instead of constantly travelling. With sour cream onion pringles and chocolate biscuits (actually turned out to be chocolate covered jelly) for breakfast we jumped straight onto the next bus to Si Pan Don. When we arrived we saw a few familiar faces including the lovely Didi and Leo! It was great to see them even just for the short couple of minutes. They were starting their journey to Cambodia. There are so many scams with regards to the border crossing so I'm really not looking forward to this part of the journey!

    We took a lovely boat ride to Don Khon and then checked into our bungalow. We were absolutely starving, luckily on our journey in we tagged a couple of places we wanted to eat. So first stop was a local Tamil owned Indian restaurant. I've been craving home cooked for a while and this hit the spot!

    The next day we had the day off to just read our books, begin learning Vietnamese and enjoy sunset on the tip of Don Det.

    As we had a really lazy day, today we decided to have the complete opposite. We were up and out by 6am and hired bicycles by 6:15am! We cycled for half an hour, seeing some of sun rise and caught a private boat to see the Irawaddy Dolphins. Irawaddy Dolphins are salt water dolphins and not usually found in fresh water rivers but this part of the Mekong River has 3 of the species left. It was really beautiful and such a lovely start to the day, we saw all 3 dolphins only a couple of meters away.

    We then cycled around the island to see various viewpoints, beaches and waterfalls. It got to about 12pm and the heat was getting quite intense and we were starving as hadn't had breakfast so we went for brunch. We spent the afternoon cycling around Don Det, the connecting islands, and finished the day with a well deserved dinner!

    For our final day we decided to plan our big move onto Cambodia and relax before the hectic time ahead travelling across the border and in Siem Reap. The 4000 islands are really lovely and relaxed, definitely not to be missed when visiting Laos!    Read more

  • TravelerLaos
    Day 27

    End of 4000 islands

    February 27, 2018 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ -10 °C

    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

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