So after our motorcycle exploits completing The Thakhek Loop we headed south to Si Phan Don known as 4 thousand Islands. This comes from the fact that the area is in the middle of the Mekong River and hosts thousands of tiny islands of which about 10 have people living on them. We’re staying on Don Khon which is really chilled out and super cheap. Our room is 70,000 KIP (under £6 per night) and this is the view from the balcony…
The journey here can only be described as horrific. The route isn’t common so instead of an air conditioned VIP bus we had to take the local bus leaving at 5.30pm and arriving at around 8am the following morning. It was your standard noisy, bumpy and dirty ride and we seemed to stop every 5 minutes. At one point they hoisted a moped onto the roof! I’m mindful not to complain however given our current situation. It’s easy to get complacent and to forget that we’re 2 of the luckiest people in the world right now!
Anyway, we arrived and spent the first day on Don Khon just chilling and finding our bearings. Today has been much more active! Up at 7.30am I went for a run round the island at one point coming face to face with a herd of cows. They shuffled past me on the thin country path and I carried on going. It will amuse some of you to know that as sweat dripped down my face and fatigue started to set in I stumbled on a rock and went sprawling across the floor. Luckily a lone Buffalo was the only witness and he didn’t appear too interested! Later on in the morning we hired bikes and rode to a couple of waterfalls. They were pretty huge but you couldn’t swim there so we jumped back on our bikes and over the bridge to a neighbouring island Don Det. Aforementioned waterfalls…
After lunch we stopped at a chilled out Reggae bar for a couple of beers and then rode back to our place to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Si Phan Don is nice but we think a few days is more than enough. It’s beautiful to sit and watch the Mekong roll past you whilst sipping a cold Beer Lao, but I’m under no illusions that it’s where a majority of the islands waste is also deposited. So we’re hankering for some beach time in South Cambodia but before that it’s Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor Wat.
Here are some Buffalo’s bathing in the waters surrounding the islands. Until next time x
