Si Phan Don

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February 24, 2006

The night of our arrival in Si Phan Don we stayed on Don Kong, the biggest (15km long) of the 4,000 small islands strewn about this wide section of the Mekong River.  We disembarked from our longtail boat on the beach and stayed in the closest, which also happened to be the cheapest, guesthouse just five meters from the boat landing.  We strolled the island and then celebrated the end of our 48 hour traverse with a Lao Lao cocktail.  The rice whisky, a local specialty, knocked us both off our feet, and we crashed in our big, horizontal, stationary (except for the spinning) BED!  For those of you keeping track, this was our first bed in three nights, after one on a train and two on buses.

Relaxing in the 4,000 Islands

Longtail Boat from Don Kong to Don Det
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February 28, 2006

The morning after our arrival in Don Kong, we rose early to catch another longtail boat headed to the smaller island of Don Det.  It was a nice 45 minute ride, sitting just inches from the clear waters and watching river life pass us by on the banks of the Mekong.

We landed on Don Det and, after a bit of a search, settled into our bamboo shack on the sunset side of the island.  This little bungalow with a tin roof, decked flooring, woven bamboo walls, and a hammock on the small, adequate porch became our home for the remainder of our relaxing, three night stay.

Fishermen
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Si Phan Don is one of the most relaxed places on earth, we imagine.  Tourism has replaced agriculture as the main industry on Don Det, and because of this, the farming lifestyle of hard manual labor has been replaced by the seated-in-the-shady hammock lifestyle of manning the bungalows.  The do-it-yourself startup costs are very low for the farmers and the profits seemingly guaranteed, as more and more backpackers flock to the river islands.  The new, easier occupation in the already idealistic surroundings seems to only have supplied the locals with a more efficient means of achieving their desired lifestyle: relaxed.

Off to Don Det
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There is a clear and drastic difference between the people of Laos and most of the rest of the world.  They do not need or even want to be monetarily wealthy, generally speaking, of course.  They just want enough so that they can live comfortably and peacefully, with plenty of time to chill out.  This characteristic seems to feed into almost every aspect of Lao society, which makes it warm and welcoming, at least to those of a similar disposition.  Bargaining, for example, a medium of the art of Southeast Asian travel, is almost a pleasant experience for both parties involved, and we have parted from almost every exchange with mutual smiles and appreciative gesticulations.

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The Lao people place a high value on free time for relaxation and fun and a lower priority on hard work and education.  Though these traits may make it hard to get things done in a timely manner and could stand in the way of Laos rising to the level of a world power, it seems to suit them just fine, and we have yet to see a happier general population anywhere else in the world, poor or rich, war ravaged or peaceful.  Nowhere are the Lao popular values more easily observed than in the laid-back islands of Si Phan Don.  It seems that here the (communist) governmental influences are kept to a minimum, and the people are allowed to do, or not do, whatever they please.  The rest of the world may have "island time", but Laos island time is an impressive superlative.

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We spent our time on Don Det following the Lao example and relaxing as much as possible, strolling around, floating on inner tubes, and swinging in hammocks.  Our only real activity of mention, other than devoring banana pancakes, was our bike ride to an impressive waterfall on the neighboring island of Don Khon.  We also met some nice locals and other backpackers from around the world, many of whom seemed to be stuck on the islands, like pieces of driftwood washed up on the shore.  One of the nights we were invited to a Shabbot dinner, attended by a couple dozen travelers, most of whom were Israeli.  We shared good food, conversation, and our first taste of the (in)famous Beer Lao late into the night.