After spending a few days being ill in Vientiane and generally recovering and chilling out, I took a sleeper bus South to Si Phan Don in Laos, meaning 4000 islands. The sleeper bus was amazing, there are no seats, just beds in little compartments with a curtain separating you. It is by far the most comfiest and relaxing way of travelling I have experienced so far, and you go overnight so don’t waste a day on the road.

My idyllic riverside bungalow

Si Phan Don consists of 3 main inhabited islands in the mighty Mekong river, surrounded by thousands of tiny islands which in the rainy season are just the tops of trees sticking out of the water. Laos is a very relaxed place, in fact they nickname Laos PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) as Laos, Please Dont Rush. The culture is very focused on having fun and spending lots of time with family, over meals and a few Beer Laos. In the 3 weeks I spent here I never saw one person look angry or stressed, even with some of the crazy moped driving on the roads in Vientiane. However, Don Det, my island of choice takes the word relaxed to a whole new level. I was still recovering from my travellers cold, so for me it was the perfect remedy.

 The island is about 5km long and has no roads, only sandy tracks. There are no motorised vehicles on the island and it has only just got electricity, and even then this is only in some of the guest houses. The local people live in wooden huts, suspended on stilts to protect against flooding. The majority of the land is taken up with ride paddies and water buffalo, in fact there seem to be more water buffalo than people. My accommodation was a wooden hut overlooking the river, with my own balcony and hammock, all for 20000 kip per night which is less than 2 pounds. I spent the majority of the first day lying in my hammock (my new favourite pastime) reading and writing in my diary, all with the accompanying sounds of the Mekong river, and the put put put of the local fisherman’s boats.

In the evening I went to one of the three restaurants on the sunset side and met a group of travellers from Germany, America, Sweden and Israel. As the island is so small, you tend to see people walking around, so we all just hung out together like one big happy chilled out family. The next day I thought it would be a good idea to do something slightly active after all that time horizontal (and I was running out of books) so we all decided to hire bicycles and explore Don Det and the connecting island Don Khong. The bikes were very ancient and brakes were a luxury. Only one person’s back brake worked, all the others were non-existent, lucky the terrain is relatively flat, although it is very bumpy and the poor bikes weren’t really equipped for the terrain so a lot of time was spent stopped trying to get the chains back on.

On Don Khong we found a deserted sandy beach and all dived in the Mekong, even though in the rainy season it is churned a muddy brown, but we were so hot and sweaty from cycling in the oppressive heat that no one cared. The current was extremely strong and we had to keep to the shallows to avoid being swept away. I attempted some swimming, but it was just like swimming on a treadmill and I wasn’t moving anywhere! A herd of water buffalo came to join us, and although they were cautious at first, soon their curiousity got the better of them and they came to investigate the impromptu game of football that had started up on the sand.

Waterfall!

On the way back we stopped off at a tiny little ‘restaurant’ (more like an extension of a family home) overlooking an amazing waterfall.  The owner wasn’t prepared for seven people turning up and ordering food, so we all helped prepare it and carry the dishes. There were lots of small children running around, and the little boys all seemed to be amateur Lao Boxing specialists so they provided our entertainment as we ate. We weren’t aware of the time, and soon it was dusk, that turned swiftly to night and we had to cycle back (about 10km) in the pitch black. Needless to say there were no lights on the bike and we had a lot of fun navigating the bumpy tracks with nothing to guide us but the moon above, which thankfully was almost full.

My Don Det family

After a few blissful days on Don Det I decided it was time to move on, before I got so relaxed that I couldn’t move from my hammock! It was very sad to leave, and especially to leave all my new friends who I had become so close with over the last few days. Travelling can be very emotional when you have to leave places and people, but the great thing is there’s always something else amazing around the corner and you’re never on your own for long. We all swapped email addresses and talked of plans to meet up in different places around the world. The majority of them were crossing the border into Cambodia, but I wanted to head to Vietnam next so checked out the map and decided to cross at a remote border crossing, taking me right into the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

I wasn’t really sure what this would entail, or how to go about doing it but I just booked a bus in the general direction and hoped for the best. I was heading into un-chartered territory, my destination town in Laos, Attapue wasn’t even in the bible that is Lonely Planet! Shock horror! I was quite excited about this, even though I knew it would mean no travellers and no one speaking English. I was keen to make sure I was getting a good balance between being with Western travellers and having lots of fun, and going to remote places on my own and submerging myself in the real culture. The bus ride was the usual hot, sweaty and confusing affair; Laos buses go so slowly, I swear even a tractor overtook us once, even though the roads in Southern Laos are actually pretty good and no where near as windy as the North. Even though my ticket was through to Attapue, the bus stopped at a completely random little shetler, 87km from Attapue, the driver handed everyone 20000kip, apologised and swiftly drove off. Luckily for me there was a young Laos girl on the bus, returning home from university and she explained that we had to walk to the next bus stop, about ten minutes away and wait for another bus to take us the remainder of the way. I was so grateful to her, as by this time it was dark and I did slightly start to panic. When we finally arrived at Attapue, we shared a ‘taxi’ (pick up truck) into the town and she directed the driver to the only guest house as he spoke no English.

The guest house was ran by a charismatic old lady who I had to wake up when I arrived at 12 midnight. Even though I’d disturbed her sleep, she seemed delighted to see me and showed me to a lovely room where I gratefully lay down and went straight to sleep.

The view of Attapue from my window

Attapue itself was very small and consisted of two sealed roads and several dirt tracks and of course, a beautiful temple. As I walked around, the locals stared at me in amazement and the little children waved and shouted ‘Sabidee!’ as I passed. There weren’t really any places to eat and I think the landlady of the guest house felt a bit sorry for me being on my own because in the evening she invited me (with hand guestures) to join her and the family for dinner. I was amazed at the warm hospitality she showed me, and even though I tried several times, she refused to let me give her any money for the food. The family consisted of her, her husband and what I assume were her sons, although they could have been grandsons. They spoke a little English and were very interested in England, what the weather was like, how big it was and me and my family. They were very surprised when I told them I was 26 and un-married, but I tried to explain that in England this is quite normal. I dont think they understood, and probably thought I was running away from some great shame I had bought on myself! I had a great evening with them, and they treated me like an honoured guest. I tried to practice the tiny amount of Laos that I had picked up and they laughed at my English pronounciation but tried to help me improve.

Temple in Attapue

In the morning I got my bus to the border, ready to continue my adventure in Vietnam. They all stood at the door waving until the bus had turned the corner, and I felt as if we were all good friends, even though I’d only met them for one night and we hadn’t exchanged more than a few mutually understood words. This is the kind of experience you dont get told about in Lonely Planet!