Referred to by some as Khao San Road on the river, if nothing else the scenery here is far better than at KSR. Now well-established on the traveller trail through Laos, the number of rooms on Don Dhet continues to climb steadily. The scenery is indeed very...well...scenic, and the ambience of the place very relaxed, but Laos this is not. If you're on the way here expecting to experience the local culture, prepare to be very, very disappointed. If on the other hand, all you want to do is relax in a hammock for a week (or a month) meet and talk to travellers and eat traveller food with yet more travellers, then you're in the right place.

Certainly a beautiful area, daily sunsets and sunrises are equally stunning, there's a wealth of activities -- waterfalls, boat trips, cycling trips, hiking, camping and extended hammock laying -- with which you can busy yourself with for days or weeks.

You can easily visit nearby Don Khon by crossing the French Bridge, where there are great waterfalls, rusty trains, and the occasional glimpse of an Irrawady dolphin.

Don Dhet has yet to be hooked up to Laos main electrical grid -- we were told a few years back that it was set to arrive mid 2006, but as of our revisit in December of that year -- not so much. The locals get by running computers and sound systems off car batteries during the day, and the generators kick in at sunset and run until about 23:00. River breezes keep the rooms pretty cool most of the day even without fans, but morning on the sunrise side and afternoons on the sunset side can get pretty toasty.

In anticipation of these changes, a working group has been formed to try to establish a degree of planning into the ongoing development of the island to try to maintain some degree of control over what is happening now and what will happen in the future.

Encouragingly, they are using the example of Vang Vieng as an example of exactly what they do NOT want to happen, so at least they are getting off on the right step. Apparently the main focus in centring around controlling the burgeoning development and establishing a pricing system where the farmers and others who are running these establishments will start to receive a more sustainable level of income from their operations -- yes $1 rooms will not be here forever.

The view is towards shifting the pricing structure from what is not generally $1 a night (although in some cases people are still bargaining their room cost down to zero) to a more sustainable level of $2-3, with a longer term goal of $4-5 a night -- at which time rooms with private bathroom and electricity will be more the norm.

It is the belief that when most places are charging prices at this level, they will be able to earn enough to better maintain their bungalows in a financially independent manner (the roofs and walls may be made of thatch, but they still cost money and still need to be replaced) without needing to go to moneylenders which in many cases is what is happening now. Please consider the long term sustainability of a business when you stand there wearing your $300 backpack bargaining a $1 room to nothing.

The accommodation on Don Dhet runs along three sides of the island, the north-west side (sunset side), the north-east side (sunrise side) and the southeast side (facing Don Khon).

Orientation
Boats from Nakasang usually dock at one of two landings, depending on where you depart from -- songthaews from Pakse often head to the landing to the south of Nakasang, and the boats that leave from there pull up at the landing about midway along the eastern coast of Don Dhet. There is some accommodation between here and the French bridge to the south (which crosses over to Don Khon). These are good places to get away from the throngs if you're looking for some solitude.

Heading north, there's a long line of places to stay, eventually coming to a junction marked with signs pointing to accommodation on the sunset side. This road crosses the island and continues south for a bit before ending in some rice fields -- enterprising hikers who pick their way through the fields can find their way south to the French bridge.

The eastern road continues from the junction to the top of the island, passing the boat landing at the north end -- the boats here cross back and forth between here and the landing in Nakasang town proper. You'll want to take a boat from this landing when leaving Don Dhet, because songtheaws to Pakse depart from Nakasang town.

The road continues around the top of the island and terminates at Khampong Restaurant and Guesthouse. To get to the sunset guesthouses further south, you'll have to backtrack to the junction and take the sunset road.

The internet places are all located north of the junction to the sunset side, rates varying from 800 to 1,000 kip per minute. Service is pretty slow and unreliable, since all the computers run on car batteries during the day. Most people do all their internet and bid adieu to their on-line buddies before heading to Don Dhet. The best, most reliable place is at Natural Travel next to Nouphit Guest House just north of the junction on the right. They also offer overseas call for 6,000 kip per minute You'll also find Khieo Internet, in front of the Souksan Hotel (800 kip per minute) and there's internet at the Pool Room Restaurant, 1,000 kip per minute.

There is no post office, no police station and no hospital on Don Dhet. The nearest facilities are all on Don Khong.

There's also no bank. Most business will exchange kip for baht and dollars, but at pretty unattractive what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it rates. You can cash travellers cheques at the exchange booth in the Riverside Restaurant at the northern tip of the island, but they charge 2,000 kip per dollar! There's a new branch of the Lao Development Bank open in Khinak -- they cash travellers checks for US$2 per cheque if you want dollars, no commission if you want kip, but it'll cost at least US$5 to get there by boat from the island or motorcycle taxi from Nakasang. Do the math and figure out if its worth your while: hours 8:00 to 16:30, weekdays. At the end of the day, it's smart to show up with plenty of kip or baht. Or stop off in Don Khong on the way down and head to the Agricultural Promotion Bank.

There are several travel agencies, mostly at the northern tip of the island. Lanexang Travel and Natural Travel seem to be the best of the lot -- we've heard a lot of complaints about Phoudoi Travel in the Khampong Restaurant, so beware.

And finally, here's a bit of a hint for the uninitiated: the word 'happy' when it appears next to an item on a menu in Don Dhet has a very special meaning. Ask around before you order.