THE 4.000 ISLANDS of Southern LAOS: Ultimate TRAVEL GUIDE to Hidden Paradise

Welcome to Wild of the World and in this adventurous episode I'm glad to take you down to one of the most beautiful countries in Southeast Asia. We already started the trip in Laos in the previous episode, but this time we visit the beautiful South. And this is what you saw so far on our adventure in Laos. From Huaixai at the Thai border we cruised the Mekong river. We celebrated Christmas in Luang Prabang and gazed upon the waterfalls of Quang Si. In the last episode it was hard to say goodbye to the mountains of Vang Vieng. But we're going to Vientiane next and catch a flight to Pakse to go to the south of Laos. On a short flight we now start the adventure in South Laos, where we see the beautiful sunset in Pakse. We continue to follow the mighty Mekong river down south. Where we started in the north when the river first enters Laos, we're now a thousand kilometers more to the south in the city of Pakse. This used to be the administrative center of the French colony called Indochina. And as you can see behind me, we just spent the night in one of those beautiful old colonial buildings. And in the early morning when the sun is up, I'm ready to check out this beautiful area. Pakse is the second city of Laos with around 90,000 people. It is home to a large Vietnamese population and it has many Chinese businesses as well. For us, it's the gateway to many beautiful sights in the south. After a nice morning swim, we pack our things and cross the Mekong river for the first stop. The biggest attraction in and around Pakse is the golden Buddha statue overlooking the Mekong river that you can find just across the water from the city center. We took the taxi over the Lao-Nippon bridge to find this sacred statue, probably the most sacred one in the entire area around Pakse city. And the view is of course incredible looking out over the city center. The name of this temple is Wat Phu Sa Lao, named after the Sa Lao mountain that we now stand on. With 32 meters, this is one of the biggest Buddha statues in all of Laos. And just as I was flying the drone, a group of monks turn up for their daily prayers. As I am the only one there at the moment, I happen to sit first row for a private cultural show. That was so special, the monks praying to the big golden Buddha statue and me having a private show over there. I just crossed the street to find even more Buddhas and I think, I didn't count them yet, but there's a couple of hundreds over here all the way up to the temple. It's amazing, but unfortunately it's time to move on even further south in Laos because our driver will drive us all the way down to Don Det and Don Khon in three hours where we'll celebrate New Year's Eve and see some nice waterfalls. Let's go! They call it 4,000 islands. 7-Eleven toasties! Thailand is known to have over 15,000 of these, but did you know that the first 7-Eleven in Laos only opened recently in 2023? They have only 12 stores. And Celine is very glad that they do. We arrive in Nakasong just before the sunset and from here we enter a water world also known as the 4,000 islands. The beach is literally the end of the line for our taxi van and we hop over on a traditional Lao longtail boat. The short boat trip is breathtaking and as we see local life floating by, we find the island of our next destination. Don Khon! We're here! This is our island, Don Khon. And yes, this is undiscovered paradise for both nature and culture enthusiasts like us. It's Southeast Asia back in time. We had such an incredible road trip to get from Pakse where we saw the golden Buddha statue looking out over the Mekong all the way to Nakasong in three hours. And over there we took the longtail boat that took us across the lake of 4,000 islands locally known as Sipan Don. And one of the islands is called Don Khon and that's where we are now in this little cabin for the coming three days. And tonight we have to celebrate New Year's. So let's get ready and enjoy the south of Laos here. I'm not really asking, we'll get away. Happy New Year! Cheers! From Don Khon, I wish you a very happy 2025 full of new world travels. And look at all the beautiful fireworks. There isn't any. But we do have beer Lao. I guess I spoke a bit too soon. Wow! It seems that we booked a picturesque little hotel with the most relaxing vibe. And if you already thought our hotel was nice, you should see the backyard. Because we got a lot of animals over there right in the middle of the countryside. The cows with their little cow bells making a beautiful noise in the morning. Yeah, we feel right in the middle of local life here. With the drone, we can explore the surroundings even better. We're in the middle of a fantastic countryside water world. Our island only has a few hundred inhabitants, mostly fishermen and farmers. Come on and let's go, let's be free with me. So Sipan Don means 4,000 islands. And they are located in the south of Laos near the border with Cambodia. Half of all the islands are submerged in the rain season when the river floods. The most popular islands are the one that we're staying at, Don Khon. The one in the back over there is called Don Dat. And there are also Don Som and Don Kong. On a short walk, I can explore Don Khon and Don Dat. Because the two are connected by an old train bridge. The farm animals wander the streets over here. And the village is very quiet and local. The major site on our little island is this old stone train bridge. It was built by the French to connect the two islands of Don Khon and Don Dat over there in the back. And it was the first railway in all of Laos. Built to transport passengers and cargo all the way over the Mekong. To the Khon-Papang waterfalls and into Cambodia. So today I can still walk the bridge all the way over there to Don Dat. So now that I've walked across the bridge and I'm on the other side that's called Don Dat. I'm finally able to say, been there, Don Dat. Just walking around here makes your heartbeat drop. For this is without a doubt the most relaxed place in all of Southeast Asia. Oh, I also want to mention the people in this town are very friendly. Did I say people? He's the goat, greatest of all time. One minute later there are even three. It's starting to look like a fairy tale. Just sitting in the windowsills. I think this is their house. I hope the wolf is not coming today. We are thoroughly enjoying our relaxation time here on little Don Khon. It's so peaceful and quiet. But today it's time to see some more of the area. So we're gonna grab a boat, sail through the islands over here. And see the biggest waterfall in all of Laos. In about 20 minutes we reach Nakatsung again. Where a tuk-tuk should be waiting to take us along the river to the waterfall. This is also very interesting to see. Because there's a big tourist information board. With a top 10 of biggest waterfalls all across the world. So we have the Niagara Falls. We have Iguazu Falls. And the Konpapeng Falls are in there at number 9. Some of the biggest waterfalls in the world guys. Go! Near the waterfalls we visit the Temple of the Sacred Tree. That stood here in the middle of the Mekong River for over 500 years. The Lao people believe it has superpowers. And the legend goes that its fruit granted eternal youth. By longtail boat and tuk-tuk we've reached Konpapeng Falls within half an hour. This is actually the biggest waterfall in the entire world. If you look at the width of all the waterfalls combined in the Mekong River. It's 10 kilometers of waterfalls close to the border with Cambodia. Konpapeng Falls. Flying the drone over the Mekong here shows just how huge and mighty the Konpapeng Falls are. We can also see why the Mekong River cruise that we did is limited to the north side of Laos. Oh and one more super important thing to mention here at the waterfalls. It's very hot here and they do have ice cream. So it's the best place in the world. I personally believe that ice cream also gives you eternal youth. See for yourself. I can honestly say that the south of Laos was the best part of our trip around Southeast Asia. And we could easily stay here for another couple of weeks. That's it unfortunately for this amazing episode down in the south of Laos. But the next time we'll just cross the border and go to the new adventure in Cambodia. So don't go anywhere just yet. Because in the next two minutes we show you all the coming destinations on our 2025 world trip. Through the Middle East we cross over to Central Asia. And we visit Iceland too and a lot more. Tune in every week to see all the adventures in What of the World.