Mekong Mellow on Don Det

My manly island ride

There are some places in the world where time stands still. Watches stop. Clocks pause. Urgency vanishes. Passions and aggressions dissipate.

The peaceful islands of Si Phan Don in southern Laos are one such place As the Mekong stretches out to create over four thousand river islands before contracting back again as it heads into northern Cambodia, time is lulled into breezy, warm complacency.

While the northern tip of the island of Don Det finds home to scores of intrepid young backpackers, walking or biking to the south of the island or crossing the old French bridge to the island of Don Khon takes you to peaceful village huts on the riverbank, mellow oxen grazing in the rice fields, and the almost irresistible urge to simply sprawl yourself out in the nearest hammock to watch the sunset.

I resisted.

At 6:00am, I forced myself out of my little bungalow and found myself a bicycle to rent. As you can see from the picture, it was not the most manly of steeds. More appropriate for a 9-year old girl, both in style and size (I felt like I was pedaling a tricycle.) The little bell on the handlebars didn’t help.

Admittedly, though, the island was gorgeous. Especially Don Khon. Riding through fields and paths and sand and forest and jungle, all the way down to the southern tip. Such lush and beautiful scenery in the early morning sunlight, with Cambodia just across the water on the western side.

But I couldn’t stay. The temptation to mellow and lounge and read a book or three while sipping a cold glass of fresh fruit juice was simply too strong, and could easily lead to days upon days of idleness.

I took the earliest boat ride out, content to have visited but eager to move on, checking my watch along the way to make sure it was still ticking…