4000 Islands

Don Som is part of the 4000 Islands (in Lao named Si Phan Don) area. It's in the far south of Laos and in the south of Champasak province.

4000 Islands - a wonderful area to visit and explore

The Mekong river widens out a lot in our area and many islands spring up from the water, some of them just a few meters (or less) long, others with a fair size of several kilometers length.

The most visited islands are Don Det and Don Khone. The largest island is Don Khong with guesthouses and hotels as well. Don Som is more ‘off the beaten track’ as you can see. The area hosts some beautiful waterfalls like the Lii Phi (Somphamit), Khone Phapheng, Tad E-toud and the smaller Khone Pa Soi to name a few. If you like to relax, enjoy and see the Mekong river from a hammock, sipping on a bottle of Beerlao, fruit shake or something else, this might be a perfect place for you to visit. But there is more to do than relaxing. You can easily spend a week or longer exploring the islands!

Si Phan Don is named a ‘backpackers paradise’ by some. Let’s keep it that way and respect local culture.

Don Som

Don Som is the second largest island of the area. Our island is located between the two more famous islands Don Khong (the biggest one) in the north and Don Det in the south (with Don Khone next to it). Not many tourists visit Don Som and most people on the island still life a traditional Lao Loum (lowland Lao) lifestyle. The island is absolutely worth exploring if you like to see a place with very few tourists and a lot of local life

The island is about 13 kilometers long (north-south), and 3 kilometers at its widest point (east-west). There are 12 villages on the island. About 7.000 people are living on the island.

Most people on Don Som are farmers and fishermen. Fish from the Mekong is a very important part of the food of many people on the island. Most people also have some animals (mostly chickens, pigs, buffaloes and cows). Buffaloes used to be very important for working on the land but these days small tractors mostly replaced them. Planting and harvesting the rice (almost all is sticky rice) is mostly done by hand and requires a lot of people to get the work done.

Restaurants, except for a few noodle soup shops, are not present and except for some small local shops there isn’t too much for sale either. Don Som has no market and people from the northern part of the island travel to the market of Khinak and in the southern part they go to Ban Nakassang. People wake up early (some people as early 3.00 at night/ in the morning) and between 5.00 and 6.30 some people leave the island to visit the market.

Don Det & Don Khone

Det and Don Khone are the most well-known islands of the 4000 Islands. You can find many bars, restaurants and guesthouses on the two islands. Don Det and Don Khone are connected to each other by bridge. The old French bridge is still standing and is used daily by locals and visitors. The islands are easy to explore by bicycle or motorbike and have a laid back vibe. If you like to eat and drink, there are many options and for partying, drinking and eating with (new) friends it's also a nice place.

Relaxing and chilling are probably the most popular things to do on Don Det and Don Khone. But if you want to get more active, there are also things to do! Making a kayak trip and going for a swim are nice activities. 

Two colonial era locomotives are still standing on Don Khone as a reminder of different times. Information is provided and it’s interesting to read.

Don Khone has some very interesting natural attractions as well. The waterfalls Lii Phi (Tat Somphamit) and Khone Pha Soi are some of them. Visiting Don Khone will take you back into time and if you have some imagination you can still see the train making its way through the forests of the island.

Don Khong

Don Khong is the biggest island of Laos and the main island of the Khong District and Si Phan Don (4000 Islands) area. It is connected with the mainland by a 700 meters long bridge spanning the Mekong river. A quiet and serene island with some nice things to see and do as well. A small museum offers some background information about the island and the area. The island is mostly very quiet and tuktuks and other ways of getting around are normally hard to find or not there at all. Cycling or renting a motorbike are the best options to enjoy the island. The island is 18 kilometers (11 miles) long from north to south, and 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) at its widest point.

Tham Phu Kiaw is a (very) small cave located a few kilometers north of Muang Khong (the town where most visitors stay on Don Khong). The cave contains some old Buddha statues and pots. It’s a relatively easy walk from the main road of Don Khong to the cave in the forests. See a video we've made there via this link. Muang Saen on the western part of the island has a big market which is visited by people from Don Khong and surrounding islands and Cambodian people from just accross the Mekong river.

Waterfalls of the 4000 Islands

The 4,000 Islands have several beautiful waterfalls that are definitely worth a visit. The two most famous are the Khone Phapheng Falls and Liphi Waterfall (also known as Tad Somphamit). Some smaller waterfalls that are certainly also worth seeing are Tad Etoud and Tad Khone Pasoi. You can read more about the two largest waterfalls below. We can help you with transport there and more information.

Khone Phapheng Falls

These waterfalls are spectacular (especially during and just after the rainy season) and enormously wide. In fact, they are the widest in the world! The width spans 10,783 meters from one edge of the many channels to the other. The highest falls are 21 meters.

You can visit them as a day trip from Don Som by motorbike or tuk-tuk. We are happy to help you with that.

Liphi Waterfall (Tad Somphamit)

The Liphi Waterfalls (also known as Tad Somphamit) are definitely worth a visit. You can visit the waterfalls from Don Khone (it is only 1.5 km from the old French colonial bridge, built starting in 1910, which connects the islands of Don Det and Don Khone). The waterfalls are very wide (approximately 1.5 km) and 12 meters high. A spectacular sight. For some time now, there have also been ziplines and rope/steel bridges that, for an extra fee, offer you the opportunity to see and experience even more of the waterfalls.

A video we made at the waterfalls over here.