4000 islands: Been there Don Det

Katie Seddon
Oct 21, 2019
3 min read

1 tuk tuk, 2 minivans, 1 sleeper bus, 1 boat and 0 dinners and breakfasts later, we’d made it from Vang Vieng to Don Det. A mission it was, and we were now a shell of our former selves, BUT we had 4 days of laid back island life in front of us, so here’s how we spent it...

Kayaking the 4000 islands

In our heads we’d booked a relaxing kayak down the Mekong- a lazy river if you will. In reality it was like training for the Olympic Kayaking Team, and it’s safe to say we didn’t qualify. The 3 of us bundled into one kayak and off we went, and for a good while we were doing ok. We made it to Don Khone to see Li Phi Falls where fishermen risk their lives to catch a haul and then we were back in the kayak to head to the next stop. And that’s where our problems (and the river rapids) began. Despite our best efforts, it was us vs the river, and the river won, giving us a right royal dunking and capsizing our kayak. We clambered back onboard only to be met with another rapid and ploughed straight into a pile of sharp branches. A giant spider took the opportunity to clamber aboard whilst we had to lay flat to prevent our eyes being plucked out by lethal twigs. Added to that, Ryan appeared to be allergic to the Mekong and was squealing at the back, partially blinded by the water in his eyes. Like I said, we were not Olympic material.

We finally made it to the next stop, shoulders throbbing and backs aching, where we bundled onto a long tail boat in the hope of seeing the rare Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins. With only about 80 dolphins left in the wild we didn’t expect to see any, but we were pleasantly surprised when the motor stopped and we sat in the middle of the river as several dolphins bobbed around us arching out of the water. Very cool.

Back on land we had lunch and then headed out on the kayaks again, this time to Phapheng waterfall, the biggest waterfall in SE Asia. Thankfully we hopped out of the kayaks and into the back of a truck to reach it, because it really was giant, and based on our abilities we’d 100% have died. It was so vastly wide and formed the maddest rapids.

After that we had one final kayak back to Don Det before dragging our sore bodies out onto shore and into the nearest shower. Job done.

Exploring by bike

Don Det is the perfect place to meet other people because it’s tiny and there’s lots of bars to hang out in. We’d met 4 fellow travellers and decided to hire bikes and explore the island (for 87p- Never. Leaving. Asia.) We cycled under blue skies through rice paddies and over lots of rocks and sand to arrive at a secluded sandy beach along the Mekong. And that was our haven for the day. Aside from a couple of local fishermen we saw no one else, and so we set up the speaker and got the beers in until the sun started to drop. Ain’t no other way to Friday on Don Det.

We decided to leave the beach for the cycle back before it got dark, but 5 minutes in one of the bikes broke and one of our group ended up having to be towed by another using a jungle vine in the pitch black across some pretty sketchy ground. They nailed it though. Teamwork at its best.

Poolside chills

Don Det is also the perfect place to just chill out. We’d done a lot of trekking with a lot of early starts over the past couple of months, which had been pretty full on, so this was well needed. Our guesthouse didn’t have a pool, but the one next door did, so we got in on the action for £3. This was the first pool day we’d had since leaving England, and it was glorious. The gang joined us in the afternoon and we spent our last evening on Don Det in the pool with a beer as the sun set. The best way to end our time in Laos.