To be honest....in a hammock, in a hut, in a rice field, wasn’t the best nights sleep I’ve ever had. So in the early hours we got our stuff together and continued our route to Pakse (once the ignition was fixed on Tim’s bike)
Once in Pakse, we waited for our rendezvous at a very nice hotel. We hadn’t washed for some time now, and our clothes and faces had been covered in considerable amount of road dirt…….I don’t think the owners of the hotel minded too much?!!!!
We later got the bikes repaired at yet another garage in Laos before making our way to the Four Thousand Islands near the Laos/Cambodian border.
A dull days riding, as we made our journey down the very straight and long road to our destination. Once at the Mekong crossing w We managed to get ourselves and our bikes onto a small boat to take us Don Det (a small island in the archipelago of the Four Thousand Islands in the Mekong) It felt pretty cool as the boat drew up onto the sand, and we rode straight onto the sand and up the main street (dirt track). Spent a while riding round the island…much to the annoyance of the tourists staying there….but to the delight of the, who I guess don’t see many bikes like these.
Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands) is an archipelago of sand bars, rocky inlets, among the green expanse of the Mekong river. After all the epic encountered with the bikes etc, it seemed like a good place to chill out for a few days. The island of Don Det still has remnants of its former French colonial days with the occasional French style buildings here and there. Overall it's lovely place to relax. Things are pretty basic here, power is limited, and everything shuts down at 10pm, but perfect for the relaxing by the river in the $5 per night guesthouse.
So, after four tyre repairs, one broken chain, leaking suspension, one broken mirror, one failed ignition, one failed starter, one badly cut hand, numerous Beerlao, dodgy accommodation and three brothels we’d finally made it!!!
