What to see in Laos

4000 Islands

In the south of Laos, near the border with Cambodia, the Mekong multiplies in different rivers, giving rise to many small islands full of vegetation and tall palm trees called Si Pan Don. Most of them disappear in the rainy season, but it is in the larger ones where inhabitants have settled, who are characterized by their simplicity and who benefit from the cultivation of rice and sugar cane, plantations of coconut, bamboo and ceiba , fishing, livestock and tourism.

The most visited islands are Don Det, Don Khon and Don Khong. The first is practically linked to the second, where the longest waterfalls of Southeast Asia, Khone Phanpheng, are one of its main attractions and the excursions to see Irrawaddy dolphins, a curious specimen in danger of extinction as there are less than one hundred left in the Mekong. The largest and most inhabited island, Don Khong, is 18 meters long and eight meters wide. The highlight in it is the beautiful Khmer temple Wat Chom Thong and the Wat Phou Khao Kaew or the "Crystal Hill Monastery". In addition, in the village of Muang Khong, a former French settlement, rural life runs calmly, as in the small villages of Ban Huay and Ban Hang Khong.