24122010 - 4000 islands that was Christmas island

While in Luang Prabang i stayed in a dorm and there was an aussie girl beside my bunk and we conversed and i found out that her dad is singaporean as well. Bumped into her again at champasak and it just one of the many times i bumped into people whom i met earlier in thailand or northern laos. It was instances after instances of serendipities. We were heading the same way so we wet out to the main road to hitch the ride down to the south for our boat to the islands. We waited for nearly 2 hrs before it came and we were looking forward to some island relaxation over xmas on hammocks and book in hand.

On the island i bought a book about a lady who cycled across africa on her own.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Esprit-Battuta-Across-Africa-Bicycle/dp/1854106295
Just the kind of read that keeps me going. Si Phan Don is gorgeous during sunsets and i'll leave you with some proof to that.

peppered on the mekong which gives the name 4000 islands

Li Phi falls which locals believe the evil spirits are washed
down to.

 had to climb out for this.

tourists had died here before

During the day i pondered on the impact of tourism on a once peaceful island like Don Det and Don Khon. Before tourism arrived I believe it was just a village which goes about planting rice, crops, rearing poultry and fishing in the Mekong. Now you see bamboo huts peppered around the island. Pizza bars, cafes and even Indian restaurants have all sprung up. Yes these are things that generate money for the locals and boost their once meager incomes. However at what expense?

The loss of a once peaceful and undisturbed way of life in exchange for falang $$. I do believe there are a handful of villagers on the islands that wished tourism hadn’t arrived and life would be as it is during their time when they’ve never seen a bottle of coke before. Though many travelers came with the intention of enjoying the views and hardly interfere with the locals and mostly have genuine and sincere interactions,  I would really like to know what they really think of having us here and how our presence had altered their way of life?

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At night we had a mini xmas dinner gathering with all the people living in the guest house and also a family staying else where that came over to the guest house restaurant. It was a cauldron of cultures and we were treated to 'Lao Lao' 50% alcohol rice whiskey by the GH owner. One of the best xmas's in my life and normally i'm not a sucker for festives.