The peaceful Don Det - 4.000 Islands

After one month on the road, I finnaly allowed me some time to chill. I don’t think I could have choose a better place than Don Det in the 4.000 Island. (Don Det map)

Once you are in Nakasang pier, you are already in paradise. After 15 minutes in a pirogue and a little walk in the island you have the feeling that you say goodbye to civilization and enter in a quiet and peace area.

For a peacefull experience my advise is to walk into the island to find a guesthouse the far away you can walk with your heavy bag after few hours in buses.

There is a lot of guesthouses close to the pier but you will miss the best of the island in my opinion.

From the pier, after a little walk you can choose the left road– which is the sunrise river- or the right road – which is the sunset river. Both are wonderful according to what I heard.

I decided to stay at Phetmany’s Guesthouse on the sunset river. That is a wonderful guesthouse. For 50.000 KIP I had a night in a private bungalow. The shower is shared and the water is cold but with the weather on Don Det I didn’t really care having hot water. Phet and his family are welcoming I encourage you to have a stop here in their pink bungalows !

A traveller I met chose to wash himself in the Mekong when he found his shower to cold (yes, it could be on the morning). According to his point of view, the Mekong was warmer than his cold shower and at the end this is the same water in the river and in the shower. Some Lao people on Don Det were doing the same on the morning or the evening. Up to you to try the Lao way of life.

On Don Det island you can swim in the Mekong and enjoy the Sun. Be just carreful where you go because the river stream is strong almost everywhere.

I had the feeling that life just stop here. People I have met were in a peacefull way of living. This is the perfect place to chill and let you live. Your day start whit the sunrise and end up with the sunset which is just so beautiful in a different way each evening.

There is electricity and internet on this island for only 6 years. You feel it in a way because local people are living with the sun. When the sun rise at 6 on the morning, they wake up and take our boats to drive their relatives to school or work in others islands.

Don Det is weel know as the best place to party in the 4.000 island. If you are looking for what you enjoyed in Vang Vieng you will be maybe desapointed. The is no club and like everywhere in Laos Don Det has to respect the curfew.

Anyway there is still way to chill and sharing laugh and biers. After the sunset, you just have to follow the move and the noise. Most of the time you will join a nice ambiance in a bar and them moving with the people you meet in an other bar or at the pier or the easy go beach for a night fire camp.

Otherwise you can also join an afternoon on a island with other foreigners for 50.000 KIP (average price). From noon to sunset you will be on a private island, swiming, eating burgers and drinking beers.

In my point of view Don Det is a peaceful island. This is a perfect place to rest and let yourself live with your own rythm. Live goes the way it has to be. It was really painful to leave and I understand so much the foreigners I meet who decided to stay here.

Don Det is really close to Don Khon. If you rent a bike and cross the bridge for one day you can enjoy a beautiful tour on Don Khon. The Somphamit water falls are impressive and the Pha Pheng Falls beautiful.

More difficult to find, the easy way to join the Pha Pheng Falls is to start from the village, after crossing the bridge, you turn ont he left and then at the end of the village, turn on the right.

Otherwise there is a beautifil way in the forest to join them if you turn left at the cross on the dolphin pier road.