Making my way to country number 20

After spending 2 incredible weeks at the ECC School in Siem Reap and working as a volunteer there, I wanted to continue my journey and travel to Laos. However, I caught a flu the day before I left for Laos and ended up in bed for 9 days. Stucking in bed with a flu while being a solo traveler and being on your own is definitely not fun but I got through that time. With a delay of eight days, I took the bus from Siem Reap towards the border of Laos on the morning of August 8th. My destination was 4000 Islands, which is not far across the Laos border.

As always in Asia, the journey by bus was quite adventurous. Again, there were more people on the bus than there were seats. So it happened that I had absolutely no legroom and sometimes had a child sitting halfway on my lap.

Shortly before the border I had to change the completely overcrowded van together with all other travelers who were on their way to Laos. At first I was relieved, but the bus we got on afterwards didn’t have air conditioning. The one-hour drive to the border at over 30 degrees was therefore a disaster.

Crossing the border to Laos

Finally we arrived at the border. There we all had to get out and first have a photo taken for the visa. In addition, we had to fill out a piece of paper with our personal data. Since we had to change buses after the border, we had to carry all our luggage across the border ourselves.

First, our passports for leaving Cambodia were checked. Since I overstayed my visa by 5 days, I had to pay $10 USD for every day I overstayed.

From there we had to walk to the checkpoint where we got our visa for Laos. The visa cost $40 USD. In addition, we had to pay a fee of $2 USD. This fee is said to be for the passport stamp, however, it is not legal to charge this fee. Since I didn’t want to stress about $2 USD, I paid the money like everyone else. After everyone had their passport back, we went on the bus that took us to 4000 Islands. The bus ride didn’t last long, but it was already late afternoon. After 30 minutes we arrived at the ferry that should take us to Don Det.

We had to wait a few more minutes before we were allowed to get on the boat. During that time we played with the children who were running around there. Then we finally went on the small motorboat, which brought us to 4000 Islands.

Arrived on 4000 Islands

There are no hostels on 4000 Island, which is why I booked a guesthouse that was recommended to me. The guesthouse wasn’t far from the pier either, so I was able to walk there. I absolutly loved the Guesthouse. The room was large and clean. It was the first time since I’ve been in Asia that I had a room to myself. I really enjoyed the two nights there.

After checking in, I went straight on a little discovery tour of the island. As soon as I saw a bit of the island, I fell in love with Laos and couldn’t wait for the day ahead to fully explore the island.

Since the sun was just setting, I could also watch the sunset over the Mekong River. After sunset I went back to my guesthouse. In the evening I made my way to dinner. I was sitting in a restaurant right next to my guesthouse. I had already heard that Laos is pretty cheap, but I was still surprised that I got dinner and a drink for less than 2€. However, I had to wait over an hour for my food.

Exploring 4000 Islands by bike

The next morning I first went to the same restaurant where I had breakfast the night before. It took a while before I got my food, but this time it didn’t take a full hour. After breakfast, I borrowed a bike from my guesthouse to explore the island.

From Don Det you can also easily drive to the neighboring island of Don Khon. I wanted to explore both islands that day. First I drove a somewhat bumpy road across the island of Don Det. The landscape and nature everywhere on 4000 Islands reminded me of Kratie and Koh Trong Island in Cambodia. I was able to observe the locals on the island and some animals that they keep in the garden.

Heading over to Don Khon

From Don Det I then drove over a bridge to Don Khon. The island looked very much like Don Det. First I drove along the water. The path here was much better developed than on Don Det. My first stop was the waterfall on the Mekong river. It wasn’t a real waterfall but more of a stream with a very strong current. A suspension bridge led over the waterfall. But it looked so unstable that I didn’t dare to step on it.

From the waterfall on the Mekong River I continued along the island towards the south. I couldn’t see much in this part, but it was still nice to have seen the whole island. When I finally got to the end of the island, I turned around and rode the same way back to the bridge that led to Don Det.

From there I went in the other direction to Don Khon Island. I wanted to stop at Li Phi Somphamit Waterfall first, but it had an entrance fee, so I didn’t visit it. In the end I regretted that a bit.

From Li Phi Somphamit Waterfall I drove on to Khon tai Beach. The way there was very bumpy and not easy to cope with a slightly older rickety bike. But the Khon tai Beach wasn’t that incredibly exciting. In general, I felt that the highlights of the island aren’t the tourist attractions, but rather the places you discover by accident. From Khon tai Beach I drove the bumpy way back and then drove back to Don Det.

Back on the island Don Det

There I drove along the other side back to the guesthouse. In the meantime it had become a bit cloudier, which is why it wasn’t quite as hot as at noon. This also made it more enjoyable to explore the island.

In contrast to the western side of the island of Don Det, the path on the eastern side was better developed and therefore easier to cycle on. But the western side of the island was a lot more spectacular with nature and landscape. Nevertheless, I could see many different animals on the east side of the island.

Just before I got back to my guesthouse in the afternoon, it started to rain. I then hurried the last two kilometers to get back to my accommodation. Luckily it only dribbled a little and didn’t really start to rain. I was pretty exhausted from my long bike ride, so I spent the afternoon at the guesthouse and took a break there.

Watching the sunset over the Mekong River

In the afternoon before sunset I went to a small restaurant, which was right on the river and not far from my guesthouse. There I watched the sunset with a coconut shake. A french backpacker sat down at my table, with whom I had a nice chat and watched the sunset together.

After sunset, when it was getting dark, I went back to my guesthouse. There I started packing my things for my trip to Pakse the next day. After everything was stowed in my backpack, I made my way to dinner. I went back to the same restaurant I was at the day before. In fact, I didn’t have to wait long for my food this time either. After dinner, I went back to the guesthouse, where I fell asleep pretty quickly.

The next day I traveled from 4000 Islands to Pakse. If you would like to know what I experienced during my time in Pakse, please read my next blog post Driving on the most terrible roads on the Pakse Loop.