Supposedly the most beautiful place in Laos, surrounded by the mighty Mekong river they are a collecton of small islands near to the Cambodian border.
Our first night brought us to Don Khong where we checked into a bargain room, was a really nicely decorated comfy place and it was bliss! Sit on the balcony upstairs and read whilst the sun is setting with a beer Lao. We met a couple (Sarah and Simon) on the boat over and it happened to be Sarah's birthday so we went and enjoyed a fish and chip dinner with them (battered bits of while fish was quite nice though...just not the fish and chip shop delicacy we were hoping for!) and we had a few drinks and all got a bit merry. We discovered that Si Pahn Don closes very very early i.e. 10pm so we were kicked out and had to go and sit over the road with a few drinks. It was cold and wet and raining but we had a huuuuge umbrella and some candles and a mosquitoe coil, what more could we need! After a while all the beer ran out and at the grand old time of about 11pm we all went to bed!
Next morning still feeling slightly fuzzy we decided to get bikes and go for a ride around the lower half of the island, we saw some Wats and lots of Buffalo including some in shoulder deep mud puddles. After a while the sun came out full blast and it got very very hot, we puffed and panted all the way round and made it to the major settlement on the other side of Don Khong only to find it consisted of about 10 buildings! The scenery was nice though saw all the rice fields and some Lao scarecrows but by the time we got back we were shattered!
After this we headed off to another island called Don Det. It was beautiful, there was loads more to do, but it was a bit like going back in time, only having electricity between 7pm - 10pm and no paved roads only a dirt track and it was so laid back. Of course the downsides were cold riverwater showers and the most uncomfortable beds in the world but sitting on a hammock on your porch in front of the river is the most relaxing thing ever! and the cost of this palace was 75p!!!
Not only did we have all of this but as our room backed right out onto the river with a couple of trees growing beneath us, which of course had a lot of wild life. One day minding our own business we heard the most bizzare noise ever and nobody could figure out what it was, i spotted an animal down by the river and we were trying to figure out what that was as it looked " a bit like a frog, but really long" that was when we noticed it was a snake eating a frog and the poor thing was squealing for its life :(
We also went for another bike ride to see a waterfall on neighbouring island Don kon. This was really where the novelty of the basic lifestyle wore off! The road at some points didnt even exist and it was a case of wading through water knee deep or scrambling along a fence trying to pull the bike behind you! By the time we got home from seeing the rather impressive huuuuge waterfall (where men were fishing on these tiny little wooden bridges, even though the looked like they would be swept away any minute) we were caked in mud from having to get off and walk through it, it got flicked every where, we must have been a sight! We also did a sunset cruise with Sarah and Simon which took us near the cambodian border for our first glimpse of the country and to a "deserted beach" (which was more like deserted mud flat/ wooded area where we had to wade through water and resulted in me and Sarah getting eaten to death by ants, but it was nice....until the clouds rolled in. We were about half way home when the skies opened onto our tiny little boat and we all got soaked!

After we retunrned to pakse we bumoped into our old tour guide, boon, who took us to the Bolaven plateau. He asked us if we had plans for the evening which we did not and so we were invited to a Lao disco. Sounds exciting, a few drinks a dance, he says it gets really busy so we get to meet the locals....brilliant. We go home shower and put on our glad rags (a clean vest top and a semi-clean pair of trousers) and make up...for the first time in months!
We got a lift with Boon, his wife, 2 year old son?, his mate and a cambodian dude and it soon became apparent that things werent quite right. He asked us to pay for the petrol between the three of us and siad he'd already paid earlier...ok.
We got to the disco and it was not what we had expected...think tinsel, DJ, karaoke, a dance floor....like a 50th wedding anniversary party down the local labour club, and we were the only ones there. Boon reassured us "dont worry dont worry its early" So we sat for a couple of hours had a couple of drinks and a group of about 5 lads came in...that was it the whole crowd. By now we were getting a little bored so Boon suggested we go and called for the bill, then handed it to us and told us to share the cost of 6 beers (that he and his friends had also drunk) his ciggarettes, and the crisps for his kid. When we out right refused and agreed to pay for 2 beers he became offended and said we could share the cost with the cambodian bloke. Again we refused and gavin him the money for the 2 drinks and left. He wasnt rude about it but even the cambodian dude was a bit pissed that he was being taken for a free ride. We got droped off at our hotel and to be honest boon was very gracious if not a little sarcastic saying "thanks for the drinks". Then that was it...unfortunatley not the introduction to Lao life we were looking for but we got so see a small window which was more than enough.