Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay but the last time I posted this Blog I got kicked out by the system I was on and lost the lot, so here goes again.

I was still in Pakse preparing to venture further South in Laos and visit the area known as 4000 Islands, the journey was going to be in two hops, first by mini bus and then a short boat trip across the Mekong to an area known as Mueng Khong. This stage of my trip meant that I was saying goodbye to the final member of our original Laos Venture Party, Marika, having shared a few adventures together and a few room besides, Marika was going onto Cambodia and had another day to spend in Pakse before her flight. I left the Hotel early and found Laos life already in full swing outside, the Langthorn Hotel, next to the one I stayed in, was playing host to about fifty Asian folks for breakfast and was busy beyond belief for that time of the morning. I just about managed to scrounge a cup of tea before the mini bus arrived. The drive was 2 and a half hour, I watched with just a touch of consternation as my pack was thrown onto the roof and trusting it was going to be safely secured down I clambered inside. Some of my fellow travellers were venturing onto the smaller Islands by road which meant even more time huddled together in the small van, only three of us jumped off at Khong Island and I found myself in company with Toni and Kerstin who were going to be really good companions to me over the next few days, in fact once again I was lucky enough to find myself with people who have become friends and have been just fabulous to be around. The reason for me alighting the bus at this point was in order that I could spend a final time on the Mekong River and experience the River as far South as it goes through Laos, it also meant that I would have followed the course of the River through just about all of Laos, or at least as far as the River would allow.

We soon met Mr Phoumy who not only took us across the river to the Island but nearly took over our lives by the time we got off on the other bank. We had been organised into accommodation courtesy of the Phoumy Family, booked onto a river trip to the Islands courtesy of Phoumy River Tours and for Kerstin and Toni, they had return journey to Pakse organised courtesy of Phoumy Transport Services and they got theirs cheaper than mine! Actually the last bit didn't happen until a day later but it fits in with the story better this way!

Before we definately decided to take up the offer of Phoumy accommodation, we did make a token effort at finding alternatives but to be honest it was not worth the effort and the accommodation on offer was really nice and impressive for the price, you can judge for yourselves by the pictures but the place was always quiet, clean, tidy and very homely, it was about as laid back as you are likely to find anywhere and for less than 5 pounds per night it would be very hard to beat.

Mueng Khong is a very quiet area and apart from the sound of cockerills, pigs, goats, the occasional dog, the Monks in the Temple and children singing in the morning (very nice), there was not much that was going to break the sound barrier here. My room was simple and comfortable with a large shower and plenty of hot water and had a very impressive mosquitoe net hung from the ceiling above the bed. We found somewhere for dinner but not before we had all been for a little wander with Kerstin and Toni going one way and me going in the other direction, inevitably in a place such as this it was not long before you bump into one another again and that is exactly what happened, so we retired for a freshen up and then out for the evening.

The following day we piled onto the Phoumy motor launch, well, long tail boat actually, to head south towards the Islands, there was just the three of us and our 'pilot'. It was a beautiful day, warm (about 30ish) brilliant sunshine and a nice breeze as a result of going down river. The river becomes very wide at this point but is broken up by various Islands and a couple of sets of waterfalls, I say Islands but in truth some of them are nothing more than large mud banks with plant life and vegitation upon them, others are inhabited and it was the two most well known, Don Hat and Don Kong that we were going to visit. The further south we went the more the plants changed and became more and more tropical with fruit palms, banana trees and coconut palms being the most prominent species. Many of the 4000 Islands appear like floating bushes with mangrove type trees semi-submerged sticking up from the muddy brown waters. The Islands steadily become more populated until you are in the middle of a busy little village surrounded by cheap riverside, stilted bungalows and houses mixed in amongst the local populace. This is a favourite place for travellers from afar and the previously held belief that there was more life in Mueng Khong was quickly dispelled.. There were more people here than I has seen in the previous two days. The Islands still hold a certain charm but other than to be amongst dozens of other tourist I was pleased with the choices I had made. I can understand staying on Don Kong but it is very different to being in a Tropical Paradise simply because there are no real beaches, you would have to bathe in the River which I would be happy to do but I can imagine some who would choose not to as it doesn't exactly have that crystal clear quality about it!

We left the Phoumy Steamer and visited the first of two waterfalls, Li Phi, the Mekong is split into numerous indevidual flows of water at this point as well as being joined by a tributary which increases the volume of the river and makes for quite a sight as it tumbles over the rocks and means that the water can be heard before it can be seen. There is testiment to previous flood waters to be seen all around and a bamboo bridge which previously spanned this part of the falls had been impaled by a huge tree which having been uprooted and brought downstream by the torrent had now been thrown into the bridge and ruining any chance of a crossing. This is also a point of French occupation and in preceeding years our European cousins stamped their mark on the surroundings by building bridges and a railway which linked the two Islands together. An old rusty relic now stands as a lonely reminder of a former glory age, this is now called Eco Tourism, making the most of what you have naturally, and who can blame anyone for that! There is a fee for visiting the waterfall and the train, I only hope that the revenue actually goes to the local community as it is supposed to do.

I will update you on the second part of this story in the next couple of days.

All the best,

Chris