4,000 Islands, Laos – January 31st – February 4th, 2017

Siem Reap proved to be a wonderful host for our one night stopover on the way to Laos: we ate at an AMAZING vegan barbeque buffet (stuffed bell peppers, grilled corn, and sweet potato mash were so tasty) and had a comfortable bed with very speedy internet. The next morning, we were whisked off to the travel agency where we were given a presentation on what to expect for the trip from Cambodia to Laos. This was an incredible and welcome surprise! The agency owner told us the route we were taking, where we would be stopping, where we would be transferring to different vans, and he explained the shady overland border process. After many hours squashed into three vans and paying the requisite bribes to the border officials (not for any specific reason, just extra “fees” they tack on above the visa fee), we finally arrived in the 4,000 Islands region of Laos. We immediately hopped on a tiny boat to our island getaway, Don Khone. The boat weaved about tiny islands, rocks barely sticking out of the water, and bushes popping out of the water at random. Although unsure of what constituted as one of the 4,000 islands, we could already tell that this place was special.

Just some beautiful sights of the islands. The bottom left picture shows how many bugs were attracted to the lights at one of the restaurants!

On our first full day, we splurged for a guided kayak trip through the region. Unfortunately and unknowingly, we signed up for a very popular tour and we were joined by a LARGE group of 20 tourists who splashed about, paddled uncontrollably, and made very little forward progress in their two-person kayaks. Trying to avoid the swerving kayaks and ignore the incessant jabbering of the young travelers, we soaked in the beauty of the countless islands. We also saw some of the Irrawaddy dolphins that inhabit the region, albeit from a much farther distance and less frequent than our memorable experience in Kratie (check out our Kratie blog post here). Our kayaking was broken up by a stint walking across an island, observing Laos island life, saving a bat caught in a net (which eventually was not saved because our guide ate it), and having lunch on a Cambodian beach. During lunch we met a Belgian couple who are cycling their way across SE Asia. They also backpacked through South America, spent a month kite surfing in Brazil, and were on their way to drive their campervan through Spain. They are awesome and kind of became our role models. After attempting to race the kayak guides for some fun (they weren’t interested ☹, although we definitely would have won) we returned back to our island to rest, relax, and do some laundry (YAY! - my favorite part of traveling...). Considering the massive group, it actually turned out to be a great day trip.

Waterfalls, tourists, a poor bat stuck in a net, and oh so much luck!

Khone Phapheng, "The Largest Waterfall in the World": Somehow we doubt this, but it was pretty awesome and would definitely be more spectacular in rainy season

The next morning, we stressed ourselves out doing background research and investigating campervan rentals for our quickly approaching New Zealand leg of the trip. Turns out we were a little late to the party: almost all of the budget vans had already been reserved. We had a few campervan leads, but eventually decided to actually try and enjoy the beautiful island we were lucky to be visiting rather than stress over making a decision. So, we rented some bicycles and wandered around Don Khone seeking out waterfalls, beaches, and river views. We spent some portion of the afternoon discussing the campervan options over a delicious coconut trying to relieve some of the anxiety. The coconut and gorgeous views definitely made us feel better! The way back to the hotel involved some pretty sweet rickety bridge crossings and we also met an incredibly cute baby goat and puppy.

Some sights around the island from our cycling day, including some tourists doing ridiculous poses for pictures

This place is amazing. And that puppy was adorable crawling around and generally very uncoordinated.

The next morning, we left the island on our way to Thakhek. We really had a great time on Don Khone, but wished we had had more time to enjoy the beautiful scenery and easy pace. Nonetheless, the clock was ticking and we had a motorbike loop to ride in Central Laos!