4 Thousands Islands ( Siphandone)

The region is situated in the South of Laos, just before the Cambodian border. The Mekong River splits into smaller rivers and the islands are everywhere. Some Finnish people have sad that the region looks like a Finnish summer cabin place if you think that the river is a lake and that the coconut trees are pine trees! Anyway, the region is very beautiful and calm.

There are 2 main islands: Don Det and Don Khone, we chose to stay in Don Khone.

The islands are connected with a bridge: they asked 20 000 kips for crossing it! That is one thing in Laos which is really annoying; you have to pay for everything: toilets 1000 to 2000 kips, bridges, waterfalls… And its only for foreign tourists, Lao people don't pay.

Don Khone is more relaxed island, less people; in Don Det there is more young people and more activities. But we found a really nice bungalow in Don Khone so we wanted to stay there.

We met again our friends there and spend time with them. We rented bicycles everyday and went around the islands. The islands are really small so in 2 hours you have finished your tour. In Don Khone there is an amazing waterfall. The strength of the courant is just crazy!

So that's all for Laos. We really liked it and its people. The food wasn't as good as in Thailand but we survived! Only negative thing about Laos is that it is pretty expensive. You pay a lot for the transportations, food and even for water. Only thing that was cheap was the accommodation. Next stop: Cambodia.