4000 Islands

A long bus ride to Pakse, tuk-tuk to the other bus station, and a pick up truck to Ban Nakasan, then a ferry ride to the island of Don Det. All together about 12 hours of transit... fun! We're getting good at this, I have to say.

The 4000 Islands may hold some secrets, some treasures, and some drugs for those who want them. However, we saw none of that. We were down to our last Kip and no ATMs on the island meant we were broke. We took a few days to relax and did a full lap of the island both days. The first day we wanted to visit another island connected by a bridge but they wanted 20,000 kip ($2.50) to cross... and that is what it costs for 2 breakfasts! So we skipped it and just lazed around in the hammocks at our little bungalow. It was nice and quiet there except for the incessant screaming children.

I'm so sick of "family run" hotels. There are as many children under 10 running around as there are feral dogs! STOP PROCREATING PEOPLE! Or at least throw a muzzle on your 3-year-old so she stops waking me, the paying customer, up at 7am. The roosters I can handle... children are far louder and more annoying. Rant done.

The couple of days went by fairly quickly and we managed to spend every last bit of our Laos money (the last 2000 or $0.25 went towards a packet of 3 Oreos). So we didn't have to worry about the really terrible exchange rate being offered at the boarder to Cambodia.

We liked Laos a lot. It had its ups and downs... the North is way way way better than the South, much like America and New Zealand, I assume ;)

I'd definitely consider coming back for more, especially in Luang Prabang. The people are really friendly and everything is cheap as chips.

We're moving on to country #3 on 12/30, a full week ahead of schedule!