Don Khong Island, Laos

Local fisherman amongst a few of the 4,000 islands

Our next stop after Champasek was an area called Four Thousand Islands.  This is where the Mekong River is at its widest, as much as 14 kilometers wide, with tons of islands interspersed throughout.  Our guidebook describes it as “a labyrinth of islets, rocks, and sandbars,” and that is exactly what it is.  This labyrinth has kept the Lao folks who live down here fairly isolated, which means their way of life is pretty much the same now as it always has been.  Ninety five percent of the island families catch fish for a living.  This area is also home to the Irrawaddy dolphin, an endangered species of freshwater dolphin, with about twenty of them left in this area. There are also a couple of waterfalls here, which caused the French some consternation way back when, as they had hoped to use the Mekong as a trade route into China.    

The view from Mali's over the Mekong River

Only three of the islands are set up for tourists.  Don Khong, the largest island, was our first stop.  The Dutch ladies we met on the bus to Champasek recommended a guesthouse called Mali’s (they more than recommended, they raved about it), so after getting off the boat onto the island we didn’t even look at other guesthouses, we went straight there.  The owner of the guesthouse, Mali, and her husband Athalo, were both born and raised in Laos, but have lived in Canada for the last 30 odd years.  They spend half the year in Laos and the other half in Ottawa. They are retired, with nine children, and umpteen grandchildren, all of who live in Canada. 

Papaya salad, chicken laap, sticky rice - yum!

Mali and her husband were living in Vientiane when the communists took over the country in 1975.  After the takeover, members of the previous government as well as highly educated individuals were being sent to “re-education camps” where they got a good dose of brainwashing along with all the hard labor they could stand. At the time Athalo was a technician, having trained in the U.S., and as such was considered one of these educated individuals.  One day he must have felt things were dire, because he swam across the Mekong River to Thailand, where he lived in a refugee camp. It took him six months to get word to Mali that he was okay (she had no idea what had happened to him).  She left her children with her parents and joined Athalo at the refugee camp.  Once there, they applied to live in other countries, eventually choosing Canada.  Mali remembered the day she got off the plane in Canada in the middle of winter and saw snow for the first time.  Her first thought was “how are we going to grow anything?”  I find this interesting because it seems that all Lao people are farmers/gardeners; there are gardens everywhere!  They are very self- sufficient in this way.  She forced herself to learn English ASAP (she says you can do anything when your survival depends on it).  They sponsored each one of their kids to come over to Canada; eventually the entire family was back together.  Mali and Athalo spent the next 30 years working hard in Canada – she put all her kids through college without loans, which she is very proud of.  She is an excellent cook and taught cooking classes in Canada.  It wasn’t until 2002 that she came back to Laos to build her winter home. 

Lao dwelling over green rice paddies

It was great to talk to someone who has lived in both worlds. Lots of tourists ask her if the Lao people are very poor (I was going to ask her this myself!).  It depends on how you define poor, because the Lao people have enough.  They produce nearly everything they need themselves – food, clothing, housing, fishing gear, boats, etc.  What they cannot grow, they collect in nearby forests (hopefully without setting off any landmines).  Any extras they have are used to trade at the local markets for the things they cannot make themselves.  Mali says the Lao do not consider themselves poor.  I got that feeling myself, as they don’t seem needy at all – I would use the description “self-sufficient” instead.

Local market

Mali made some amazing meals for us while we were there, one of which we were able to help prepare!  That night we had spicy papaya salad as well as chicken laap (minced meat with spices) with sticky rice, with tapioca pudding for dessert.  Many people go to her guesthouse year after year; in fact, her other guest while we were there was a writer from France who stays with her for one month every year (she makes him dinner during his stay too). 

When we weren’t chit-chatting or cooking with Mali, we spent our time wandering around the sleepy island town.  One morning we rented bikes and rode the southern part of the island, passing miles of green rice paddies until we reached a very busy local market.  This was the most local market we’d seen, with all kinds of meats, fish, and veggies for sale - we were the only tourists around.  We munched on Vietnamese spring rolls for 15 cents each, as well as these warm donuts with cream inside, also only 15 cents (so yummy!).   Any spare time we had during the day was spent lying under the air conditioner in our room because it was so freaking hot! 

Our stay with Mali was a highlight of our time in Laos - such fabulous hospitality, as well as a good source of knowledge about the Lao people.  After we left, there were so many other things I wished I’d asked her.   It will have to wait until the next time we return – after all, Mali said she would pick us up from Pakse when we came back, so we wouldn’t have to take the local bus!  :)