Despite being land-locked, Laos still offers incredible sights and great places to see along the water’s edge. Laos’ 4000 Islands is a destination that is well worth making the effort to visit. As the Mekong River is diverted around the many land masses in Southern Laos, it becomes incredibly fast flowing. Because of this, the 4000 Islands are not a swimming destination, but there are other activities on the islands.

Not all of the 4000 islands of Laos are inhabited, in fact only a handful of them are. If you’re traveling through the land border to/from Cambodia there are plenty of sights along the way that are worth the stop. There are three islands I visited, and I think they all have reasons why you should include them in your Laos itinerary!

 

Bicycle Don Khong Island

Don Khong in Laos is the largest island of the 4000 islands. Once again a single street holds the entire village close together. Unlike others I have visited in Laos, the roads are paved, making riding a bike much easier. This is a good thing as my main suggestion here is to hire a bicycle and do a loop of the island.

Whether you choose the small loop (26km) or the big (45km) one, lack of shade can make this journey extremely exhausting. As you leave the tiny town of Don Khong, for even more rural villages, your presence as a foreigner becomes even more unexpected to the locals going about their daily lives – especially in the low season!

Stares are quite common. Yet the kids don’t seem fazed and you’ll get plenty of practice replying “Saibadee” (Hello in Lao) to many little voices that are sometimes very well hidden in the shadows and shade of buildings. Often catch their tiny little arms waving “hello” like crazy at you from a distance.

There are quite a few temples along the one street loop. They seemed totally abandoned as no one was there, at all. We were greeted by only a couple of curious children who demanded their photo was taken and a single monk beating a drum atop a tower in a temple complex.

Sunset/sunrise just outside the guesthouse is beautiful along the backdrop of the river. A cloudy sky (after it rained heavy) was a great view to enjoy a few beers too. Sunrise was around 5 am, but worth getting up to see this sleepy town starts its day. Fisherman head out at daybreak on long-tail boats. The local dish of the area is coconut fish curry, and it was delicious. Not overly spicy and was full of flavor!

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Stroll Around Don Det Island

Don Det is arguably the most popular of the inhabited islands of this region. While high season on Don Det requires bookings for accommodation, the low season does not. In fact, I found showing up without a booking was able to get a better price than listed anywhere online.

For 30,000 KIP per person, Riverside Bungalows is on the opposite side of the small island than most of the well-known backpacker accommodation. It was so quiet and peaceful. Plus, there was a playful kitten. To be fair, the place could’ve been a dump and I would’ve stayed there to play with the cat… but luckily it wasn’t. It had proper floors, unlike the dirty bathroom floor or another bungalow we looked at – plus it had a fan!

This tiny island is easily looped by bicycle, taking only a couple of hours in length. I highly recommend it! For another 10,000 KIP, bikes were easy to find and rent. Finding a good bike, however, was a little bit more of a challenge. Check your bike before you set out, little things (like working brakes) will make riding so much less exhausting.

Jungle paths are fun to adventure along and explore. While it is usually very quiet along the narrow dirt path looping Don Det, motorbikes still tear along here. Be aware! The western side of the island is stunning!

There are many bars are situated along the Mekong River making for good breaks for a refreshment, many with blunt names like “Sunset View Don Det”. They definitely aren’t lying as the sun sets behind distant mountains and turns the sky shades of purple and red, reflecting from the murky brown, rainy season Mekong River. This makes for ideal planning to end your day of cycling on this side of the island. Just remember to bring a flashlight to guide your ride back home in the dark!!

Don Det has no ATM. This gives way to the local shop owners making an easy profit by offering a withdrawal service for a massive 6% commission! The mainland port of “Nadasang” is home to a couple of ATMs and is a short boat trip to get there. If you’re planning on staying a few more days on this relaxing island than you originally planned for, it’s much more cost-effective to hire a quick taxi boat to Nadasang and back to withdraw a decent amount of money.

The fish and chips meals from “Rae’s Backpackers” are amazing, and for 44,000 KIP ($5.30 USD), which includes a beer, I was happy. Other establishments such as the popular reggae bar offer “happy” pizza and shakes. A bit of a warning, a lot of people underestimate the strength of both weed and mushrooms that can be an ingredient on these items. Make sure there’s no miscommunication as to what you’re ordering, hallucinating near such a fast-flowing river could be very dangerous.

 

Explore Don Khon Island

Crossing the little bridge from Don Det finds Don Khon Island. I suggest hiring bicycles for this island as it is a little larger than Don Det and to see the outskirts it would be a very long walk. An old train sits rusting away, used by the French to transport goods all around the island via tracks. It wasn’t something I was expecting, but it was a unique slice of the area’s history.

Tad Samphanit Falls are easily accessible by rented bicycle from Don Khon Island. The entrance fee to this attraction was 35,000 KIP ($4.20 USD) and collected at the entry gate. This waterfall was more like rapids, and the power of them was insane. The water churned so violently, surviving them would be near impossible.

At my time of visiting, some sections were closed off due to water flowing over the river bank. I recommend visiting the bar at the back end of the falls. There was no one else in sight other than a troop of cats licking themselves. There’s even a pool table sitting outside. It is incredibly warped and difficult to play in some of the little open gazebo-style restaurant sections., but fun none the less.

They even have a little “beach” where two wooden chairs sit along the small sandy shore, with a couple of meters roped off into the water. The heavy waves beating against the shore discouraged me from a swim.

Back on the bicycle, keeping along the main road, turning quickly into dense bush, Ban Hang Khan Port was a decent few kilometers peddle away to the very tip of Don Khon Island to an old French Port. This is the viewpoint of the rare and endangered Mekong Dolphin, no luck spotting it for me, unfortunately! The visible landmass within a couple of kilometers is actually the mainland of Cambodia. In fact, kayaking tours from the 4000 islands visit a Cambodian Island for lunch! (no visa necessary).

From the port back, an off-road jungle path to the east towards the island’s edge proved too tempting, and it turned out that my group and I bit off much more than we anticipated! Not only was the path bumpy and rocky, making it challenging to ride, but the bridges spanning the gaps between river banks also proved a dangerous obstacle. These bridges are severely decayed and old railway tracks slowly shedding off has been replaced by rickety planks of wood. Crossing isn’t a matter of speed, especially when pushing a bike over as well. Falling into the shallow river below, with who knows what kind of submerged objects, is a dangerous prospect, with medical help being very far away. There are two of these bridges. By taking it slow, it is doable, just take your time crossing!

There are plenty of small jungle paths to follow on bike or foot. These tracks are visited by very few people and make for a nice escape from the busier towns.

All up, whether just as a stop (you should allow a few days to explore thoroughly) before heading to/from Cambodia, the 4000 Islands of Laos are a beautiful destination with many hidden treasures to explore. Jungle paths and colorful locals greet you – mostly the kids – as you ride by. While I didn’t spend much time counting the number of islands, there were tiny tuffs of land protruding in every direction. Laos’ 4000 Islands are well worth the effort of slow boats and buses to visit this beautiful destination.

 

Laos’ 4000 Islands – Tips

Accommodation is mostly available on either Don Det or Don Khong, though there are a few small guesthouses on Don Khon.

Don Khon is an easy day-trip from either of the other two islands.

While staying throughout Laos, and indeed all of South East Asia, I learned the hard way to bring my shoes and socks into my room at night. Cats and dogs will mark their territory. It can be a very bad morning waking up to urine-filled shoes.

Throughout Laos, geckos were my favorite animal. They were commonly heard at night-time making their trademark “REEEEHHHH-EEERRRRR” noise. Mimicking them became one of my favorite Laos activities.

A safety warning about a much bigger animal, the water buffalo is needed. The narrow roads of the 4000 Islands are shared by all, including farm livestock. The Water Buffalo is used to plow rice paddy fields and is easy to underestimate the brute strength they have. While we were cycling one day, an adolescent buffalo got spooked while in the field and took off running. His leash was attached to a wooden stake in the ground which was ripped out and now became an extremely dangerous tumbling obstacle trailing behind this scared buffalo as he fled through the field and onto the road ahead of us. The two-meter long stake narrowly missed my bike and was just centimeters from hitting a little girl running on the road. Do not underestimate these animals power and give them a wide berth!

 

Laos 4000 Islands – Information

The path around these islands, epically Don Det’s narrow winding path can get dangerous at night. I even ran into a tree as my front wheel hit a bump and I immediately lost control. A torch/flashlight is a great idea for night riding!

The area’s only ATMs are also where the pickup point for buses to Cambodia (and other Laos destinations) is located, Nadasang Port. This little fishing village and trading hub for the area is only 15 km from the Cambodian border. Plenty of “tours” are available to get you there, or a boat and taxi is another option.

The border crossing to Cambodia is regarded as one of the most notorious for tourist scams in regards to corruption. Luckily, I never had this negative experience at all. It was arguably one of the smoothest land border crossings I went over in all of South East Asia.  Upon getting to the bus station in Nadasang, the visa fee of $40 USD was handed over. You also are requested to hand over all passports to the “border guide” you could call him. He explained the whole process, assisted with filling out the required visa documents, and accompanied the bus to the border.

When we got to the border, I never interacted with any border official. It was all taken care of by our border guide as we sat in “no mans land” drinking coffee and eating some inexpensive noodles. This was all included in the “tour” price of transit from Laos’ 4000 Islands to the Cambodian side of the land border.

 

Video on exploring the 4000 Islands of Laos – Don Det, Don Khong and Don Khon

Here’s a short movie exploring the beautiful 4000 Islands of Laos – Don Khong, Don Det and Don Khon. Make sure you subscribe to the Horizon Unknown Youtube channel to get more travel videos (just use the top-left button).

 

Map of Laos’ 4000 Islands

 

4000 Islands Laos – Highlights

• Don Det is full of jungle paths and beautiful viewpoints for sunset.
• Riding the unknown Don Khong streets – although exhausting – was great fun!
• Don Kon Island held so many surprises, especially those rickety bridges.

 

Have you visited the 4000 islands of Laos? What was your favorite island/attraction? As always, questions and comments below are more than welcome!

 

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Thanks for reading!

Happy and safe travels,

Ben – Horizon Unknown