Don Det — Attraction in Champasak Province

(November 2018) The island is very chilled. There is no hooting and traffic noise. Bars and restaurants don’t bash on into the early hours. In the morning, lying in bed and listening to the world, there is mostly silence broken by domestic sounds (locals chatting and laughing; roosters claiming turf and the sound of children being children). Trash all over is also not as bad as the rest of Laos I have experienced.

From Pakse to Ban Nakasong and on to Don Det by little boat will cost between 60 and 65 000 Kip. If the bus doesn’t break down the trip isn’t that long and the road surface is quite good. The ticket you receive from a travel agent (don’t let anyone take if from you until you get to the boat ticket office) will get you onto your bus and then in Nakasong will get you a boat ticket. You should make sure that DON DET is written onto the ticket and not NAKASONG. If the ticket is only to Nakasong then it might mean you have to buy the boat ticket to Don Det which is 20 000 Kip per person for a group or 40 000 Kip if you are on your own.

The little boat arrives at the Don Det beach so you don’t step off onto a pier (departures leave from the pier). You step off into the water which could spoil your designer boots. Up the short beach the town starts, with a more expensive establishment to your right and ahead of you (Little Eden and Sunset View with a large swimming pool). Turning left and walking a little way will get you into budgetville. The cheapest private accommodation I found was 30 000 Kip and this got you a fairly small room with fan on the river with a small bathroom with western type toilet and cold water shower. More pleasant accommodation starts at 50 000 Kip.

There is a lot of accommodation available in Don Det and you will find lots of little places if you walk down the path to the bridge linking Don Det and Don Kohn (the bridge is around 4km from your arrival point in Don Det and it’s a pleasant walk along the river). Some of the places however seem to charge 80 000 Kip for very similar accommodation that can be had for 50 000 Kip per night.

The locals in Don Det appear friendly enough but the split between friendly and indifferent appears to be around 30/70.

Pricing of things is quite fluid so shop around a bit to compare pricing. There are no traditional ATMs on the Island. There is an ATM withdrawal system on the island similar to making a credit card purchase. The commission however is 6% which is double that found in Vietnam. There are 3 traditional ATM's in Nakasong so it would b cheaper for you to draw money there (I found BCEL to be the best in terms of fees and maximum withdrawal limit per transaction).

The cost of dining in Don Det is on the higher side when using my baseline fried rice with veggies and chicken. Where I could easily find this meal in other locations for 15 000 Kip, here it kicks off at 20 000 and is mostly 25 000 Kip. I found a curry soup for 15 000 Kip that was absolutely superb (add 5 000 Kip if you want beef/pork/chicken with it) at MR NOIS RESTAURANT down the path on the right.

Scooter rental pricing is 80 000 Kip per day. Fuel is sold in plastic containers here and there along the pathway. Bicycles can be hired for 10 000 Kip per day. Tour operators are plentiful. Their prices vary a bit for the same service. Laundering clothes in Don Det can be done from 8 000 Kip per kg (very reasonable). Some places between Don Det beach and the bridge charge 10 000 Kip per kg. It is very humid in Don Det, so don’t expect your clothes to dry in a hurry unless the skies are blue. Pharmacies don’t exist here. If you develop gastro it would be wise to have some back up medication in your bag before you get here.

Leaving Don Det is a simple affair. Find the travel agent with the best price for where you want to go. Establish the method of transport until you reach your destination so you can plan how to dress. Find out roughly how long it will take if the bus doesn’t break down. Establish your departure time from the...

This island surprised us with how wheelchair accessible it is. Got 2 big main paved roads, can take you around the island - almost! It's just a few parts that's are not, but every local will come and give you a hand. If you want accessible stay, don't stay in a bungalow facing the water front ( both aunrise or sunset). Suggestion - Stay on the sunrise side as it's paved road. or pick a place that's more inland. They tend to be ground-floor accommodation.

On my 2nd day on the island, I went for a 7km run around DonDet. Sunrise morning run, and I saw the real island life. It was beautiful! The people from the island are super nice and friendly and have managed to welcome all tourist to their lovely island. The island itself is very chilled and has a vibe of gili Island in Bali. Highly recommended 👌 👍 Laos people are very funny, generous, friendly, and joke, and they do like a good sleep. The island stops ✋️ at 10 pm and starts waking up at 9-9.30am 😆 There are plenty of things to see and do. You can rent a 🚲 between 20k kip to 35k kip. Bargain is a good thing to do. Water are 10k kip big bottles, and you keep the bottle to fill them up for 3k kip....

The good thing about this place is it is ridiculously laid-back, quiet and beautiful. You can cycle around the island or just relax in a hammock reading a book. The bad thing is there is a lack of customer service, and when it comes to the toilets/bathrooms, hygiene (they are very, very basic). There also seems to be a culture of theft regarding shoes and flip-flops but this is more likely the tourists. Bar owners and local hippies seem to just accept this and urge you to take another pair of shoes but this does not seem ethically right to me. The community can do more to stop this happening and not normalise or accept a culture of theft. It's ok if you have a cheap pair of shoes and can afford more but for many backpackers they might only have one pair and cannot afford another. I was surprised to find so much good Indian food here. Definitely recommend cycling to the waterfalls or 'private beaches' and taking a boat down the river. Another sad thing is the amount of pollution - dozens of plastic bottles can be seen floating down the Mekong at any...