Been There Don Det!

After a stuffy five hour bus ride from Champasak, we were happy to arrive at 4,000 Islands, made up of three main islands located on the Mekong River at the southern most tip of Laos. We immediately boarded a small boat for the short ride across the Mekong to the island of Don Det. Known as the 'fabled travelers' mecca', the island is 4km in length and lined with bungalows and hammocks offering expansive views of the Mekong and surrounding luscious vegetation. Don Det has only one narrow dirt road with accommodations on one side and restaurants and tour agencies on the other. Eventually the pot hole filled road winds through rice paddies filled with water buffalo and a footbridge connecting to the other islands. Instantaneously, upon disembarking our wooden boat, we fell in love with this mecca. This euphoria lasted only minutes until we realized not one of the 4,000 islands had an ATM and our wallets were thinning.

We checked into Mr. Man guesthouse and Teo, the owner, came to our rescue. We had no other option but to fork over $7.00 of our precious dollars for Teo to ferry Lisa via boat and moped to the mainland where she exchanged money at the only bank, still consisting of no ATM. If you've kept updated on our blog, this may remind you of our international border experience. During this two hour journey, Gabi reclined on her private riverside bungalow deck in a hammock contemplating ways to make some cash in case Lisa returnd empty handed.

Money in hand, Lisa returned and Gabi had already made friends with the neighbors and planned a fishing trip which would end in bbqing our catch. We joined two girls from Australia and two guys from England on a very narrow Lao style fishing boat with a man and his eight year old son. We were deposited on a sand bar and our guides handed us each a fishing poll with a piece of brick or metal pipe used as a weight and a live worm on the hook. The only tugs we got were from plants our line got caught on in the current. Within the last five minutes one of the Britts caught a four-inch fish, offering a limited bbq dinner for the six of us. A moment later the sun suddenly disappeared and we were caught in a pelting downpour with no cover. The guide and his son thought it was hilarious and jumped out of the boat in the Mekong for warmth while yelling things in Lao, leaving us cold,.confused and credulous. Eventually we coaxed them back into the boat and they returned us to land one hour before our fishing trip was supposed to end. Fish-less and hungry we returned to our bungalow for a cold shower and dinner at the Mr. Man restaurant. In the four days on Don Det, we would not eat one meal outside of this eatery thanks to our bonding with Teo.

The following day we rented bucket bikes and set out towards Don Kan, the other main islands, winding between pedal deep puddle filled potholes. Greeting water buffaloes and children along the 6 km ride, we reached the Tat Somphamit, also known as Li Phi falls meaning 'spirit trap', one of two waterfalls in this area. We saw a cooking class sign at one of the food stalls at Li Phi and impulsively signed up. The matriarch of this family run business,  Mama Dam  (translates to Black Mama) taught us to make fish cakes and sticky rice. We accredit ourselves to how delicious they turned out. To your advantage this menu item will be an addition to our previously promised ... Black Mama  enjoyed chatting with us and bestowing her culinary expertise and family stories on us. Before departing Lisa and Black Mama traded Sins, Lao style skirts. Returning sweaty from out 12 km ride, Lisa tied a bright yellow dress to our riverside bunglow and we immediately walked up stream to the end of the dirt road, left our clothing at the northernmost bar, and jumped into the Mekong without tubes to the astonishmet of onlookers. We floated downstream, avoiding trees, boat motors, possibly dolphins and other obstacles in the flooded river until we saw the yellow marker calling us to shore. The high adrenaline dip was a perfect ending to a fabulous day.

Our final day in beautiful Don Det consisted of a full day kayaking trip to see the rare Irrawady dolphins, of which only 20 exist in this area. After exhausting paddling, led by our non-English "English" speaking guides, we reached a viewing point on the Cambodian border where we saw pink dolphins playing. We were explained that Laoatians don't hunt dolphin and regard them as a sacred animal as they scare away crocodiles. We paddled to the Cambodia side of the Mekong and took a dip before paddling to the Khom Phapheng Falls. These falls are the largest in volume in SE Asia pouring millions of liters over the Laos-Cambodia border.    

As we said our goodbyes to the 4,000 Islands and our bungalow at Mr. Man, Teo surprised us with two blue and white handmade friendship bracelets. While tying them on she said "for happiness, luck and funny". We gave her a hug in return, which is something awkwardly received by Laotians, but appreciated.

With mixed feelings of sadness and excitement, we left our beloved Laos the following morning en route to Cambodia in hopes of an easier internatonal border experience.