Jim climbs up toward the sanctuary of Wat Phu Champasak

It was a pleasant 15 km ride each way, despite the poor quality of the bikes and the pretty intense heat. At first the temple complex didn’t look like too much. While it might have once rivaled Angkor Wat in importance in the Khmer empire, there just wasn’t that much left. But as we climbed the steps further up the mountain, we discovered a photographer’s paradise of scattered ruins, dramatic vistas, and colorful shrines.

At the top of all those steps — the sanctuary

A decorated Buddha outside the sanctuary

A hearse, Mekong river style

A temple near our hotel

The sunset over some of the Four Thousand Islands from our hotel terrace restaurant

Laos has a reputation among travelers for being a pretty laid back place. And our first destination here — the Four Thousand Islands — might just be one of the remoter and laid backer parts of Laos.

These islands are scattered in the Mekong river in southern Laos, just over the border from Cambodia. We are spending three days on Don Det, an island linked by a bridge to the neighboring island of Don Khon. The main activities include walking or bicycling the dirt roads of these two islands, visiting some pretty dramatic Mekong waterfalls on Don Khon, and, well, hanging out.

Laos is also known as a pretty friendly destination for people with a passion for getting stoned. That’s not really our scene, but we’ve been amused to see a good bit of it among the backpacker set hanging out here in Don Det. In a conversation I overheard at a bar yesterday, one guy was lamenting that Don Det was not “as laid back” as he expected. The other guy’s response was something along the lines of, “Dude, if this place was any more laid back it, like, couldn’t exist.”

This is what the roads look like on these islands

Jim doing his laid back best at lunch today