40. Don Det and Don Khon

We took the boat the next day further south to the 4000 Islands proper.... Don Det and Don Khon. Don Det is the party island especially the town at the north end.... We didn't want to go there so found a tropical paradise complete with hammock near the French bridge that spans between the two islands.... 

And the view from the hammock

The rooms had a wash basin, a luxury that was not always available at every guest house! And the locals don't have anything like that at all.... Every evening the children play in the river, even the little ones, and the adults come down to the river to wash themselves and their clothes...

We explored.... These two schoolgirls walked past. Most of the roads are just paths, for pedestrians and motor bikes....

This was the gantry built by the French at the north end of the line on Don Det

And the French bridge built in 1910 as part of their 7 km long railway line to transport goods and passengers to avoid the massive waterfalls that cut right across the Mekong river around all the islands. It spans the river between the two islands

And just south of the French bridge was this beautiful old loco...

This was the Main Street in Don Khon, where there were a few different places to eat and drink... 

With this once beautiful French colonial building was in the centre of the village. It used to be the railway administration office then the local school but I don't think it has much of a future now

We hired bikes to explore the island...

And cycled to the far end of the island, where we found this... The engine that the French used to power the winch to haul goods and ships out of the water onto the railway line to begin the journey across the island upriver to avoid the waterfalls. 

This was the engine house

Which you can just see at the top of the ramp, which they used when the water level was low, as now...

And this was the huge pier the French built on the south end of the island. When the water level was high the ships were at pier height.... 

The photo of the pier was taken from a boat that four of us went out in to try to see the rare Irrawaddy Dolphin which apparently live in the protected waters just south of Don Khon and further south into Cambodia. This is us all straining our eyes and necks to see them... And we did! They seem to prefer the Cambodian waters, but our guide wouldn't take us there unless we paid extra, which we didn't.... But the dolphins seemed to sense that and came nearer! 

One night we had a terrific thunderstorm, with torrential rain that was still falling as I got up.... I can just imagine how muddy everything must get in the wet season..... 

But the ducks loved it! 

There are lots of waterfalls all around the Islands, and we visited them all..... The smallest falls are to the east of Don Khon, and I bet they would be quite a sight in the wet season. This was just one of the many channels that the river was taking. 

There are French built concrete walls just upriver from the falls. They were built to guide the teak logs into the right channels to pass the falls. The logs were tied together to float down river, guided by a local, who, at the last moment had to steer them onto a reinforced concrete wall which would cut the bindings holding the logs together and the local had to jump for his life before getting swept away with the now free logs downstream.... Not a job for the faint hearted! 

The next day we cycled to the Sumphamit Falls to the west of Don Khon, better known as the Li Phi Falls, and they were quite spectacular even though it was the dry season.... All the rocks would be covered in the rainy season....

Not only were there falls, but also a beautiful bar and restaurant and beach where people can chill all day....

You couldn't really swim.... Just sit in the water... If you went out too far you'd get swept downstream in the fast flowing waters..... 

Then on our last day we went to the Phapheng Falls... The big falls! Not many people seem to go there as it does involve getting a ferry to the mainland then a tuk tuk ride.... But it was oh so worth it....

The French knew these as the Khone Falls... And magnificent isn't the word! 

A spectacular end to a wonderful time chilling and exploring such a beautiful group of Islands....

It was then time to head north back to Vientiane and leave Laos on the next leg of my journey.