8 November: we hired bikes for the day and set off to explore. We went over to the next island (Don Khon) which is linked by an old railway bridge to Don Det. The railway (built by the French and abandoned after WWII) is the only one which was ever built in Laos, so given the amount of rail travel we have done tus far, it seemed appropriate to see it. After bathing at some crashing waterfalls across the Mekong, we decided to have an early lunch of red pumpkin curry and a Lao green salad which was subtle and spicy. We then headed off to the southern 'terminus' of the island to gaze across the other side of the Mekong where Cambodia was about 1km away, and to see one of the rusting locomotives which sit at either end of the line. Rather than head back the way we came, we decided to explore the eastern end of the island. This was an interesting expereince. We found where some of the old railway track had ended up (spanning creeks and gullies as an impromptu kind of bridge). Carrying the heavy bikes across was a test of balance, stride length and strength. In the middle of a field of rice we came across a wat temple, splendid in its isolation and red roof offset magnificanelty by the cornflower blue sky above. We avoided the worst of a brief shower whilst having a heavenly banana, lemon and honey shake and a good (but not as good) banana and chocolate shale (the suspicion lingered that the 'chocolate' was in fact ovaltine). We were back at the bungalow just in time to see the sunset and for a quick shower before heading into 'town' (about 200m away). Grilled fish and vegetable fried rice were good if overpriced (by Don Det standards). A banana pancake back at the bungalows and a chat with the thoughtful Josh from Iowa (the worlds softest spoken American) and it was time for yet another early night.

9 November: Dave headed off at 0520 for Pakse to pick up our passports, returning at 1630. It was not a great day, but we had our passports. A-M had an uneventful day at the bungalow.