The 4000 Islands or Si Phan Don are a collection of islands in the Mekong River, in the far south of Laos. They're a wonderfully chilled out place to and relax but they're no destination for thrill-seekers.

The boat trip from the mainland into the 4000 Islands was the most eventful thing that happened during our stay. We had an inexperienced boatman; he took a different route to the other boats and we spend much of the journey floating downstream sideways. Some of the local passengers shouted angrily at him, probably regarding his incompetent skippering. After a few rather grinding grates along the bottom, the boat lurched wildly from side to side before getting firmly stuck on a rock. Bear in mind that there were quite a few of us on board including a family with young children and we had all of our belongings (including laptops and cameras) with us - not great if we had capsized! As it turned out the river was not particularly deep at this point, although the water was fast flowing, so all the boys got out of the boat into the waist-deep water and lifted it off the rocks for us to continue our journey unscathed.

On the journey, we started to get an idea of why this place might be called 4000 islands - there are tiny (and I mean tiny!) little islands everywhere - most only big enough for one tree or a some reeds to grow on! In the dry season, there are literally thousands, but I can imagine that all but the biggest submerge in rainy season at the waters of the Mekong rise.

Based on what we’d read on the Lonely Planet, we planned to find accommodation on Don Khon, which was supposed to be quieter and less of a party town. As was customary, I looked after the bags while Andrew went looking for somewhere to stay, but everywhere was completely full. We were starting to get worried - people were arriving all the time so more and more people were wandering around looking for somewhere to stay. Quick thinking Andrew hired a bicycle and cycled over the old railway bridge to Don Det where, after a long, hot and sweaty ride across the island in the sweltering heat, he found the fabulous Don Det Bungalows on the sunrise side of the island. He arrived back, dripping with sweat, on boat to collect me and our bags and take us across to Don Det. Don Det Bungalows is very new and is more expensive than most other places on Don Det at LAK 180,000 per night. However, for this you got a lovely clean fan bungalow with attached bathroom with hot water and breakfast. The lady who managed the place was brilliant - completely on the ball, she was working hard to make her establishment the best on Don Det. Wifi and credit card facilities should be available there as soon as the phone company link them up.

One thing worth mentioning is that we felt that Lonely Planet got it wrong when describing the differences between Don Det and Don Khon. Don Det wasn’t a major "party island" at all - the whole island was extremely chilled out with lots of bars and restaurants where you could spend the day doing nothing. We thought that Don Khon felt a lot more crowded. All the accommodation was based around one town where it was really busy and a little cramped. If we went back, we’d definitely head for Don Det again.

Once we’d got there and found accommodation, we realised just how relaxed the islands are - if we’d thought that Laos was laid back in general, the 4000 Islands took chilled out to a whole new level! The Big Lebowski would have approved. Many people we met spent days at a time chilling out chatting in the same restaurant, not really leaving except to sleep at night! We did manage a few activities though. One of these was the kayak trip to the Cambodian border. Although this was billed as white-water rafting, there was no white water to speak of and it was pretty much like kayaking on a lake. We might have considered the trip a little boring if we hadn’t seen the extremely rare Irrawaddy dolphins and also illegally visiting Cambodia for lunch!

Seeing the dolphins was pretty special as they are very endangered. With less than one hundred left, you’d expect that seeing them would be a very rare event. But it turns out that they congregate in an quite part of the river on the border of Cambodia and Laos so if you head there, there is a good chance of seeing them. They are nothing like the sea dolphins that we know and aren’t at all inquisitive about humans (probably a good self-preservation technique!) but you see and hear them swimming through the water in the distance. For lunch, we were taken to a restaurant on the Cambodian shore, half-expecting it to be a trick where immigration officers would jump out and demand payment, but luckily there was nothing of the sort!

Another activity that we’d recommend is hiring bicycles and exploring around Don Khon - there are dirt tracks that criss-cross the island and we enjoyed going all the way round, finding interesting little villages and beaches on the way.

A Monks Funeral

We were lucky enough to be taken to a preparations for a festival on a nearby island. One of the top monks had died some weeks before and his body had been left in state since. He was to be cremated on a pyre the following day and the festival was to commemorate this event.

Starting that night, the festival would run continuously for two days and night. Two stages had been set up - one for opera and one for dancing. Pity we went before the festivities had started as it would have been quite an experience to see!

After about a week of serious chilling, we left the 4000 Islands and headed to Cambodia as our 30 day Laos visa came to an end.