Cycling Don Det and Don Khon Along the Old French Railway

A ride along the bed of Laos’ first railway, across an old stone bridge and past a rusting locomotive, between two islands of hammocks and paddies.

Area

4000 Islands

Start from

Don Det

Distance

about 15 km by bicycle

Time needed

1 day

Best season

November – April

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Rented bicycle; boat from Nakasang to Don Det

Tickets & rules

Don Khon entry ticket collected at the bridge

Why go

Don Det and Don Khon are the two islands most travellers mean when they say the 4000 Islands. They are joined by an old railway bridge, and a bicycle ride from one end to the other is the classic day here, flat, easy and full of small surprises.

The northern tip of Don Det has the bungalows, bars and hammocks, but within a kilometre the island turns rural again: rice paddies, buffalo, children fishing from the bank. The path along the old railway embankment crosses the middle of the island to the bridge, and on the far side Don Khon feels quieter still.

Along the way you pass a rusting steam locomotive, French colonial buildings, a pier where the narrow-gauge trains met the boats, and side tracks leading to waterfalls and beaches. It is a day of slow pedalling and many stops.

The story

The Khone Falls made the Mekong impassable for boats, a cruel blow to French dreams of using the river as a trade highway to China. Their solution, at the end of the nineteenth century, was a short narrow-gauge railway across Don Det and Don Khon, about seven kilometres long, so that boats and cargo could be carried around the rapids. It was the only railway ever built in Laos until the twenty-first century.

Steamboats were taken apart below the falls, loaded onto wagons, hauled across the islands and reassembled upstream. The concrete bridge linking the two islands was added in the early twentieth century, and the line remained in use until the mid-1940s.

Today the rails are gone, but the embankment, the bridge and a couple of old locomotives remain. One stands in the open at Don Khon, now patched and painted, and another is displayed near the southern pier. Children climb on them while their parents sell coconuts nearby, and history and daily life sit comfortably side by side.

Getting there

From Pakse, minibuses run to Nakasang, the boat landing for Don Det, in about three hours, often with a combined boat ticket. The crossing to Don Det takes ten to fifteen minutes. Bicycles are rented everywhere on the island for a small daily fee.

The railway path runs south from the middle of Don Det to the bridge; the Don Khon ticket covers the island’s sights, including Li Phi falls.

A suggested plan

1. 8:00Breakfast at your bungalow, then rent bicycles.
2. 8:30Ride south through Don Det’s paddies along the railway embankment.
3. 9:30Cross the bridge to Don Khon and stop at the old locomotive.
4. 10:30Continue to Li Phi falls or the southern pier.
5. 13:00Lunch in Don Khon village by the bridge.
6. 15:00Ride back slowly for sunset on Don Det’s western shore.

Where to stay

Don Det has the most choice, from cheap bungalows with hammocks to more comfortable riverside rooms; the sunset side is popular, the sunrise side quieter. Don Khon has fewer, generally more comfortable places and a calmer mood.

Good to know

• Bring cash: ATMs on the islands are limited or unreliable.
• Keep your Don Khon ticket; it may be checked again at sights.
• Check your bike brakes; some paths are rough.
• Bring swimwear for the beaches on Don Khon in the dry season.