We took the boat from Don Khong down the river to Don Det which was a relaxing hour and a half (after Sarah had slipped off the boat trying to jump on it), although it did set off 15 minutes early and a girl was left behind. This is almost unheard of in South East Asia (setting off early, not leaving someone behind) as everything, and I mean everything, is late!

After looking at a few guesthouses we decided to stay in a little wooden bungalow on the shore of the island so that we could sit on our veranda and watch the sunset over the river every day. Having said this we got hungry on the first evening so missed it! Although we made up for it on our next night.

The second day on the island was incredibly hot so we went for a swim in the river which felt amazing as it was so refreshing. Getting in was the only issue as it involved walking out on a wooden raft (with an engine on it working a water pump for the fields) that would start to sink the second that youstepped on it. This coupled with the fact that it was covered in an incredibly slippy moss made it nigh on impossible to get in with any dignity (both times I just slipped in with the grace of a drunk elephant!!). The first time we went swimming I had to push Sarah in as the raft had sank and the motor was about to be flooded and I could imagine the irrate farmer.

Don Det is the most removed I have felt from the rest of the world and I can understand why some people have trouble leaving (there were people there that have been there for years after arriving for a couple of days). In the evening you cannot hear yourself thinking because of all the insects and frogs and lizards vying to be heard over everything else! We had two (I would like to say welcomed but....) spiders attached to our sunset view bungalow which were quite large. You could see there fangs and the largest one had the oddest web. It was normal but for thicker web coming from its legs in a zig zag pattern (which I thought looked like springs to make it jump further?!). Needless to say we gave this spider a wide berth!

This island was Mark's (Sarah's old boyfriend who passed away three years ago) favourite destination in Asia and where Sarah wanted to scatter his ashes but couldn't. Therefore I made us go to there old guesthouse for at least a drink on the second night. This was made all the more emotional for Sarah when Mama Tan Eon remembered her and Mark (from 5 years ago!) and she decided we should stay. This meant that I had to go and get our bags from the other side of the island. Sarah thought I would make two trips, little did she know, I did it in one. I think the fact that Mark was remembered helped Sarah as she was dreading coming here.

The next day consisted of lying in hammocks (I've finally got the hang of them, and they are actually really comfortable) reading and watching the world go by. I would recommend Mama Tan Eons to everybody who visits Don Det (and everybody should) as she is crazy in the best way. She never stops smiling (and laughing) and you always feel welcome. This is even when they are watching TV (the whole island only gets 4 hours of electricity a day, 6 till 10, so TV time is important) they love to help.

When we were leaving we were presented with a thin white bracelet, which we later found out was to bring back our souls. In Lao they believe that we have 32 souls which wander the earth and at this time of year they are to be brought back, as she was helping us. We were then stopped again whilst the daughter made Sarah another bracelet. They are probably the most friendly people I have ever met!