Day 130. Don Khone, Laos. Back on the river.

An interesting start to the day when we discovered one of our bus tickets had been double sold.

"No problem sir, wife sit on your knee, I give you refund". Fair enough, it was only a couple of hours and the three quid will come in handy.

Anyway, if Pakse was ridiculous - ridiculously dull - then Don Khone is sublime. It's taken us the best part of two days to reach the southern tip of Laos close to the Cambodian border, but the cold beer and view from our riverside hut has made it all worthwhile.

The Mekong goes a bit mental in this neck of the woods, fanning out into a broad plain some 14 kilometres wide and forming an intricate network of channels, sandbars and islets collectively known as Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands).

Our island, Don Khone, sits ominously between Don Sadam and Don Deth, yet a more agreeable place you couldn't wish to find. OK, so there's not a hell of a lot to do other than walk for fifteen minutes to a waterfall, or if really adventurous, hire a bike and cycle over the island's only bridge to stare Deth in the face. But the lack of electricity, noise and aggravation are exactly what we're looking for at this moment in time.