Don Som Riverside Guesthouse

My friend Mark Ratter and his lovely wife Sudjai Xaiyasoud are currently on the Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland. They've ended up all the way there because that's where Mark was born about 31 years ago and they are visiting family and friends now. They've met in Laos many years ago and married here as well. They decided to move to Phonsavan in northern Laos and they've opened a small restaurant-bar (Bamboozle Restaurant-Bar, worth a visit) a few years ago. It's a place popular with tourists but also with locals and expats. Phonsavan has one big attraction and that is the 'Plain of Jars'. Actually there are several 'jar sites'... Many people visit this corner of Laos to see these ancient old jars built a very long time ago by people who are now probably nothing more than dust anymore...  Phonsavan also has a very dark recent history... A history that left deep scars in the landscape and into the souls and sometimes even bodies of the peo

A personal blog from one of the owners (Sander) of Don Som Riverside Guesthouse about Vientiane , the capital of Lao PDR . Many times I read on the internet that Vientiane is not worth a visit. It's boring, ugly and/ or it has nothing to see. Of course personal experiences differ and what is nice for one is a nightmare for the other.... But (and after 'but' something always follows) I think Vientiane is worth some time. Even if it is just one day, it might be worth considering I think.... I've lived in Vientiane for about one year and know the city a bit (visited the city for the first time in 2007). Why do I have to visit Vientiane Sander, why? First of all, you don't have to and it's not Rome, Paris, Den Bosch (worth a visit if you are in the Netherlands, like food and drinks, canals, old buildings, nice people and want to see a small city without a milion other tourists and signs in English everywhere), New York or Eindhoven (mostly ugly but worth a visit,

A warm welcome to the blog page of Don Som Riverside Guesthouse! We are a small guesthouse - homestay in the far south of Laos in an area named the 4000 Islands (Si Phan Don in Lao language). Our guesthouse - homestay is located on one of the Mekong islands. The name of our island is Don Som . On this page we try to inform people about our place and together with our page on Facebook we will use this to inform people about us, our area, traveling and Laos in general. We hope you will enjoy it! Kind regards, Tanoi and Sander Don Som Riverside Guesthoue