Don Dhet

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.