Lazing in Don Khon
Don Khon is a great place to laze. There isn’t really much to do here. And you don’t have to go very far to do it. In fact, you can’t go very far. It’s a small island in the middle of the mighty Mekong. Cycling the whole way around takes less than an hour.
My first day on the island, I didn’t bother doing anything. I checked into a bungalow by the shore, had a late lunch and then lazed in my hammock until the sun went down. I wandered over to a riverside restaurant for a light bite of supper and a beer lao, before heading to bed for an early night.
My second day wasn’t much more active. In fact, it was probably even less active. I woke up late and walked along the one street for a few minutes, before sitting down with two Belgian girls I had met in Pakse as they were just finishing breakfast. They had energetic plans involving cycling. I passed and went back to my hammock. At around 4pm, I wandered downstream a little way to see the Li Phi waterfalls. The locals think that the spirits of the dead get trapped here as they drift downstream. I would describe the falls as rapids (very impressive rapids, but still just rapids) rather than waterfalls, and think that any spirits floating downstream would struggle to get stuck here. But there you go. Having achieved my one goal for the day, I wandered back to my bungalow, chilled out there for a little while, then headed out for dinner with the Belgians. It was amusing to find out that the 50p “Small Lao Lao” on the menu actually meant a pint sized bottle of the lethal stuff. We quickly scaled back our order for a Lao Lao each…
The Belgians had been out to see the (endangered) Irrawaddy dolphins early that morning and after hearing their enthusiasm, I decided to that day 3 would involve a half day of activity. I woke at 6am, rented a bicycle and headed down to a small bay where some fishermen keep their boats. One of them ferried me across the river to Cambodia (“no visa, no problem”) and then down to a conservation area where every so often, you would catch sight of a dolphin surfacing for air. There is a total population of just 68 Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia and Laos, so I felt very lucky to see as many as I did. We spent about an hour in the conservation area, with the fisherman cheerfully pointing out surfacing dolphins that I had missed, before returning to the bay. I cycled back into town, had a banana pancake for breakfast and crawled back into my hammock. A few hours later, I got out again, cycled once around the island, booked my ticket to Phnom Penh, had lunch, and climbed back into the swaying hammock… I’ve only just got out again.
It’s going to be tough to tear myself away tomorrow. Don Khon is blissfully chilled. I could easily stay here until the money runs out… (Which could take a few years given prices here!)
