Thursday, January 8, 2009

4000 Islands, our last bit of Laos

We spent four amazing days in the quiet, rustic backpacker haven of Don Det, Four Thousand Islands.   The Four Thousand Islands are, as the name suggests, thousands of little islands along the Mekong river located at the very tip of Laos,  Hugging the Cambodian border.  
It is very quite here and is the perfect spot to call a nice bamboo bungalow your home for a week or so,  and swing away for an hour on your balconies hammock as you over look the river. 

We explored all of Don Det ( in about an hour ) before we ventured off to its neighbor Don Kong ( where we biked for about 6 hours though villages, riversides and stopped for lunch. )  

There is no power on the Islands, only generators from 5-10 ( at the latest ) and at the end of the night you are left to your bungalow to again sit in your hammock with friends, beers and candles! 

We really enjoyed our short stay, as it is a total different place than anything we had seen anywhere.  The island does have tourists visit however, it/ its people still have maintained its original ways of life.   There are still dusty dirt roads, cooking every meal over the fire, as there is no power,  and growing their own food in their fields.  The people just live as simple as they can, we find it so neat to see a place that to us, would have been a place to travel 20 yrs ago. 
Here are some of our pictures from our stay on Don Det:



When we arrived at Don Det we were warmly welcomed by this guy.. 


Here you can see our FAVORITE past time! mmm mm 
In this picture Shaun is about to eat some rice pudding and a pumpkin burger 


The Mekong



Swinging away






Restaurant 


our bike ride though a village
one kid just climbed up onto Shaun's bike and wanted to go for a ride




getting some laundry done


The Local Market 





The half circle tree, our view from our bungalow. 


Thats about it, we hope we will write again very soon.  We sill have lots to catch you all up on, but we are having too much fun for the internet!  

Love,  Melissa & Shaun 

3 comments:

Aunty Colette and family said...

HI guys

SO FUN TO READ YOUR BLOG. MISSED YOU AT CHRISTMAS WHEN YOUR FAMILY WAS HERE

KEEP ENJOYING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE

AUNTY COLETTE

Anonymous said...

Hi Missie & Shaun,

Wow, What a great time you guys are having.

First I must say Merry Christmas & all the best in 2009 on your trip.

We had a great Christmas and as usual Santa was extra good at our house & Lots to eats & wine.

Happy Birthday to Missie. Glad you enjoyed your massage at the Spa.

The Bamboo Hammocks & the Cottages looked so comfy.

The Snake didn't exite me or that poor think dog you could count every rib on his body very sad.

Must be a few scrap of bones for him somewhere. Seems the food looked good & plentiful.

Missie you looked very small on the hugh elephant. Great way of transportation. The water looks so nice the view is extra beautiful.

We thank you & Shaun for keeping in touch with us. Sorry we didn't get to the computer the past 2 weeks. Judy was busy in Bowling & Darts have began again & work keeps her busy.

I insisted today I had to read your travel experience.

We laughed when Jackie said they put you off the bus for Stinky feet. Water seems plentiful & after a message at the spa & you would smell great.

Take Care & Be careful where you go, have fun & look forward to read more again.

We send our love to you both been gone 6 or 7 weeks now.

Much love & Best wishes to you both & May God guide & Protect you.

Love you & Miss you
Grandma & Aunt Judy :) :) :)

Anonymous said...

Hello,

It looks like such an amazing time an experience. I love how the little kid jumped on shauns bike and the pic with them all surrounding him. Very cute.
Love me! kristy