The living is eaaasy on Don Det

Ahhhhh.......Laos. If the Mekong River islands of Don Det and Don Khon are any indication, I've officially found my bucolic Southeast Asian paradise. Oversimplified wishful thinking, but Laos hasn't disappointed yet. After my frustrating misadventure getting to the Lao border, everything chilled out a few notches and the rest of the trip was a piece of (mango?) cake. A short mini-bus ride to the village of Ban Nakasang was followed by a long-tail boat ride through a maze of beautiful mid-channel islands, and suddenly I was wading ashore on Don Det.

Don Det is part of a chain of permanent and semi-permanent seasonal islands that dot the Mekong near the Cambodian border - in Lao, the area is known as Si Phan Don or "4000 Islands." The biggest islands are inhabited and a few, like Don Det, have been attracting tourists (well, backpackers - a distinct cheapskate subclass of tourists) for years now. Most of the farming and fishing families have built at least a bungalow or three on the river's edge to rent out at ridiculously low prices - mine cost $2.40 a night. No electricity on the island but generators run from about 6-10pm, if all goes well. Basically, the islands are famous for setting new, internationally recognized standards in the world of "chilling." It's a great place to become better acquainted with your hammock as you watch the Mekong gurgle by. In case that isn't relaxing enough for you, most of the island restaurants specialize in (fully advertised) "happy meals." For those so inclined, a few extra kip (Lao currency) will ensure that your meal or fruit shake is spiked with a wad of home grown marijuana.

So, while the lifestyle ensures that there are plenty of foreigners kicking (or drooling) around, it is easy enough to leave the scene behind - a five minute walk down a sandy footpath takes you into the real-deal, rural Laos: rice paddies, vegetable farms, thatched roof huts, water buffalo, and friendly locals, who amazingly don't seem to be jaded at all by the newcomers. For most of my morning walk around the island the other day, my only companion was a small cat that had attached itself to me - until it got bored and wandered off. The islands are also perfectly flat and interlaced with dirt paths, making bike riding a breeze - unless you come across the rare scrap metal piles that apparently pass for bridges. The rusty metal comes from a French-built narrow gauge railroad that was built across the islands to circumvent a very serious set of rapids that line the west side of the island. I was shocked at the size of the falls - I guess I had never thought about the Mekong having rapids. At any rate, these rapids, along with an even bigger set just downstream, killed the French dream of a "Mekong Highway" from Saigon to China.

All in all, Don Det has proved to be a nice change from the (sometimes) craziness of travel in Cambodia. It also provided a bit of recovery time - it seems as though I managed to pick up my first illness of the trip. Feels like a head cold, but we'll see. Back to hammock - doctor's orders.