There wasn't much going on in Pakse so we all booked a day trip to see some of the area (the Bolaven Plateau). Best day trip ever! Our guide (Aloon) was really funny & helpful, and we had a laugh with him. We visited a few waterfalls (one of which we couldn't see as it was too misty. It looked nice in the pictures!). The others were stunning though. Visted a tea plantation. Small family run business which couldn't have been any more different to the one I saw in Malaysia. The equipment was old & it was much smaller scale but the tea tasted delicious. Then we went to a coffee plantation which was set in beautiful grounds. Lunch was delish! Also visited a couple of local villages and the day ended sitting on a roadside sellers stand eating fresh pineapple. It was the freshest pineapple I've ever tasted. Making my mouth water thinking about it! That night we had a curry. All in all a pretty good day spent with a great bunch of people.
Next day I headed to the 4000 island's. After doing so much the last few weeks, I couldnt wait just to relax for a few days. A few days in Don Det actually turned into 6 nights! All the accommodation here overlooks the Mekong river. They all have hammocks & are pretty cheap (I paid 30000kip a night which is roughly £2.14 for my own bungalow with bathroom). In Don Det itself there are a few bars & restaurants (one bar plays Friend's all day!). You can hire a pushbike & cycle around the island. Yes you can go to a bar and order a 'happy' shake if that's your bag, or like me order an unhappy one (Nutella shake mmmmm).
I did actually leave my hammock one day to do a Kayak trip. This was a lot of fun! Andrew, Sebastian, Rik & Jack from the caves trip all booked, along with Imogen (an English girl I'd met on the night bus from Luang Prabang & then we kept meeting everywhere.... I think she was stalking me! Kidding!), and another English girl (Suzie) and Rick from the US, and some others we met on the day. We were hardly 5 mins into the trip before we all started splashing each other! Myself and Imogen were lumbered with one of the guides. His name was Mr Suit but we changed it to Mr Soup and then to Mr Noodle Soup (I think we'd been watching too many episodes of Friend's!). He was amusing to begin with but by the end of the day we'd had enough of his jokes & the fact we were doing all the work. We made him sit at the front for the last journey and shock horror, it was the fastest we'd gone all day! During the trip we visited 2 waterfalls and also saw Irrawaddy dolphins! We kayaked to Cambodia (well, we had to take a boat for the last part as the water was too choppy), and had lunch there. Pretty fun day!
Evenings were spent meeting up wih everyone, going for food and drinks. One night our group was 18 people of which, 16 were solo travellers! I tried some of the Laos whiskey called Lion King. It tasted more like rum and was only 70p for a litre bottle! There are very few street lights here so trips home in the pitch black were always interesting! Lots of dogs, frogs, cockerels, pigs & toads! Because it's been raining so much, the main path around the island is really muddy. I ended up moving accommodation 3 times to get closer to the main area as it was taking me 30mins to walk home!
Absolutely love it here in Don Det and could stay here longer. But alas, all good things must come to an end and tomorrow I'll be on my merry way to Vietnam to meet my boyfriend. So from one good thing to a great thing. Very excited!!!!!!
Oh one last thing. I think Laos has been my favourite country so far. Apart from Bob, everyone else I've met has been genuine & friendly & helpful. You don't get hassled as much as other countries. Three times I didn't have the right money and they let me off with paying slightly less. It wasn't by much but I can't imagine that happening anywhere else. I've also enjoyed how unspoilt the country is and the people I met along the way have also been like minded and fun. Go if you can!
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