Laos - 4000 islands and 4000 reasons not to leave

The long journey from Phnom Penh to Laos, with a stopover in Stung Treng and the subsequent border crossing, was once again not a lasting beautiful impression. But then we made it ... Finally .... Laos! A hidden paradise awaited us in the south ..... the 4000 islands. It's surprising, because Laos actually has no access to the sea. Actually, it's not really just islands, but rather many small shrubs and sandbanks. In any case, it looks like there are a variety of islands, hence the name. But there are also some larger and inhabited islands ... and all of this in the middle of the Mekong!

The 4000 islands are actually located directly on the border between Cambodia and Laos. Here the Mekong overcomes a small step of 10 - 20 meters. Since it is dry season, the Mekong carried little water and therefore also little sediment. As a result, its otherwise brown muddy color changed to a wonderful blue-green hue. So we seemed to be in the right place at the right time this time. Very nice!

We steered to the islands Don Det and Don Khon by boat. And what can I say? Fantastic... Everything invites you to enjoy, cycle, walk, swim, hang out by the Mekong and drink beer, pass the time, do nothing ... The atmosphere is wonderfully relaxed ... Everything is quiet, no cars, a few mopeds but actually only bicycles, the Mekong is "everywhere", there is good food and friendly people. There are simple living conditions, but the people still seem happy and satisfied. The Mekong is also the center here and is used for so many things, whether for bathing, washing, or transportation. Children run around, play in and by the river, or do some nonsense ... like shooting us with a slingshot and then laughing! It hurt a little, but we found it quite funny and somehow nice that the children were still running around here ... like 'Michel from Lönneberga'.

All in all, this is a place that invites you to linger and will remain in our memory. Highly recommended .... No wait! ... actually we don't want to recommend it 😉 it should remain as beautifully lonely as it is.

Of course, secret tips should not be revealed and especially not published in such a medium ... But the tip is actually not that secret and is in every travel guide ... But as it seems to us, it is simply far away from all other tourist destinations and is not so easy to reach, so that many people miss out on this dreamy spot on earth. Wonderful! 😊 We were glad to have taken the way here ... because it was worth it. It belongs to our favorites!

If there weren't so many other things to discover in this world, we would have liked to stay there ... it was hard to tear ourselves away ... and so we extended our stay for another night, and another night ...