Laos: Vang Vieng to the 4000 Islands
- Will Boddington
- Jan 13, 2018
- 6 min read
After 10 days in Vang Vieng, we finally left Chillao Hostel on a bus heading for Vientiane. Despite it being the capital city of Laos, we hadn't heard much praise for Vientiene so we were curious to see how we'd like it - we'd heard similar things about Bangkok but we'd loved it there. However, Vientiane appeared a bit run down with not much to do; whether shops were still closed from the New Year or if they had genuinely been shut down we couldn't tell.
We found a hostel for the night then walked down along the riverside to grab some food and check out the night market.
Again, there didn't seem to be much in the way of cafes or restaurants, but we found a small local cafe for a late lunch and after a quick Google search also found a good Indian restaurant we wanted to go to for dinner later. Walking through the market and around the park, we decided to walk in the morning to Patuxai, a war memorial dedicated to those who fought for independence from France and resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the World Peace Gong, an artefact presented by the World Peace Committee of Indonesia in 2008 to appreciate Laos' contribution to the safeguarding of political stability and security in the region.
These were both about 2km away, so we could easily be back in time to catch the 1pm bus to Thakhek. The bus looked very impressive from the outside but the reclined chairs reminded us of being at the dentist and we somehow managed to pick a pair of broken seats which swung around over every bump as if we were on some sort of flight simulator.
Again, we were slightly surprised by Thakhek - considering it's the start/finish of the 3 day Thakhek motorbike loop, it was a really small, local town. We struggled to find food for a while as the majority of menus weren't in English but found a few dishes we recognised in a bar on the river front, where we had a view across to Thailand.
There was also a small night market we picked up a few nibbles at as well.
The journey from Thakhek to Savannakhet was relatively short and enjoyable - about 3 hours, including a tuk tuk the last half hour into Savannakhet. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay here, so we walked through town asking at several places if they had any room for the night. Several of the fancier-looking hotels we asked in just out of curiosity turned out to be a similar price to what we were used to paying! We opted for a bungalow-style guesthouse closer to the centre, although came back to the cafe of one of the hotels for breakfast in the morning. Again we struggled to find food here, as the majority of places still seemed to be closed from New Year, but we found a restaurant similar to in Thakhek where we could look out across the river.
While we were in Savannakhet we also visited the Dinosaur Museum. Although small, we spent a good half an hour trying to translate from the French captions and looking at huge dinosaur bones that had been excavated in Savannakhet.
(photo from TripAdvisor)
It was a late drive to Pakse - the bus left about 6pm and we arrived around 10.30pm, and quick walk down the main road found us a guesthouse for the night. We spent one day exploring Pakse on foot, and found an ice cream parlour (The Anjolie's) to spend the afternoon reading in.
The next day we hired a motorbike to make the 30km journey over to the Bolovan Plateau, where there are numerous waterfalls. We visited three -
Tad E-Tu:
Tad Fane:
and Tad Champee:
Definitely our favourite waterfalls so far!
Finally we left Pakse at 8am and got a bus to the main island in the 4000 Islands, Don Khong. We found a hotel with a swimming pool and spent two very happy days swimming, sunbathing and cycling around the island. We chose the loop around the south of the island which took about 2 and a half hours in total.
We then moved on to another island - Don Det. This island had more of a backpacker feel to it, with significantly more bars and restaurants despite it being a smaller island. The first night here we stayed at the guesthouse recommended by our hotel on Don Khong, then changed to a more traditional cabin-style bungalow for our second night.
A two hour walk took us around the entire island, so we decided to walk across the bridge to neighbouring island Don Khone. This island was similar to Don Khong, with a more local feel and more up-market accommodation. We saw an old locomotive from when tracks were built to transport boats around the rapids on the island, and then visited the rapids themselves.
We continued down the island and took a private boat down the Mekong river to see some rare Irrawaddy dolphins. Unfortunately they were too far away to get a good photo!
Despite having no prior knowledge of Laos, we have both really enjoyed the last few weeks in the country and the 4000 islands were the perfect end to our time here. Next stop - Cambodia!
Accommodation:
Vientiane:
Dream Home Hostel, 1 night, 50,000 LAK per night for a bed in a dorm.
This hostel was clean and reasonably priced, as the room included breakfast. There was a small area for socialising at the front of the hostel, as well as a pool table. The hostel also served free vodka for an hour or two in the evening. 8/10.
Thakhek:
Phonepadith Hotel, 1 night, 120,000 LAK for a private double room.
This was one of the nicer hotels along the river, and the price included breakfast and AC. The room was clean and had a TV, although we didn't use this. It was also close to the night market. 7/10.
Savannakhet:
Phonepaseud Hotel, 1 night, 120,000 for a private bungalow-style room.
This was a really comfortable room, again including a TV. The bathroom was clean and even had a shower stall rather than the usual wet room bathrooms we were used to. This didn't include breakfast, but there was a pool across the road guests could use (we think, we didn't have time to use it!). It was about halfway between the bus station and the restaurants by the river, which was perfect for us. 8/10.
Pakse:
Lankham Hotel, 1 night, 100,000 LAK for a private double.
In a great location on the main road, this hotel had room for us when we arrived at 10.30pm! It didn't include breakfast but as we planned to lol around other guesthouses the next day anyway this wasn't an issue. They also could arrange tours and trips around Laos or to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. 7/10.
Oulayvanh Guesthouse, 2 nights, 140,000 LAK for a private double room.
This guesthouse was also on the main road and close to restaurants. It was extremely clean and comfortable, with a good size bathroom. We did enjoy our two nights here but as the price didn't include breakfast, we couldn't justify staying in this kind of property for too long. We were also in the ground floor and other guests weren't very considerate when walking around early in the morning - not the guesthouse's fault but a room on the floor above might be a bit quieter. 8/10.
Don Khong:
Kongmany Hotel, 2 nights, 240,000 LAK per night.
We managed to get this room at a discount by negotiation on arrival, although the man showing us around seemed more than happy to do us an offer! This was an extremely nice hotel with a nice pool, which justifies spending so much on our room as we knew we would be spending a day or two swimming and sunbathing here. It also included a good breakfast of eggs any way, baguettes and pancakes. It was also the only place we've stayed so far which includes orange juice in the price! It was definitely value for money as we only shared the pool with a couple of people while we were there. 9/10 - would be a 10 if it was on a backpackers budget!
Don Det:
Mr Mo's Guesthouse, 1 night, 80,000 LAK for a private double room with a fan (120,000 for AC).
Recommended by our last hotel, this guesthouse was clean, and comfortable, even with only a fan. It didn't include breakfast, but there was a restaurant downstairs, or many more restaurants all within a ten minute walk. Despite the cheap price, it was probably one of the nicer properties on the island. 7/10.
Paradise 2 Bungalows, 1 night, 50,000 LAK for a double bungalow.
These bungalows appealed to us as they were really traditional with hammocks on the balcony. We had seen a similar bungalow for a cheaper price, but this property included a private bathroom in the bungalow which made it more appealing - however we later realised the toilet didn't have a flush and we had to scoop water from a barrel to flush it, very traditional! Not surprisingly, there were a few lizards in the room, but they seemed to disappear once we were settling in. We also found a huge spider hiding in the corner which wasn't pleasant, however given the type of property it wasn't surprising! Again this didn't include breakfast but it was still great value. 8/10. (Will enjoyed staying here, but personally I would rather pay a bit more to guarantee no spiders!)
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