Don Daeng kicks off Southern Laos’ 4,000 Islands excursion on the Mekong, and it’s just a 40-minute van or taxi ride from the Pakse International Airport in Champasak.
The sizeable, auto-free Don Daeng (Red Island) presents a genuine local experience. Visitors can follow cycling routes to meet villagers, who can take them fishing, offer an overnight homestay and teach them to cook traditional, fresh island food.
La Folie Lodge arranges all these activities, while offering upscale wooden bungalows and a two-bedroom villa, Mekong Riverside swimming pool, gardens, restaurant, and bar.
The lodge also provides maps of Don Daeng highlighting three cycling circuits, though its bicycles are reserved for the lodge’s guests. Those staying across the Mekong in Champasak Town can easily rent cycles and bring them by ferry to the island.
According to Sylvain Beaupoil, Managing Director of La Folie Lodge, “The most popular track is the red track that goes around half of the island, and runs by several fishing villages along the river, and ancient temple ruins that are part of the Vat Phou UNESCO World Heritage site, in a very diverse landscape of rice fields, forest, and beach.”
La Folie Lodge can also arrange a “Fishing with the Locals” tour. “This activity takes place in the middle of the Mekong, usually in the morning or evening,” Mr Beaupoil said. “You can embark with a local fisherman, who demonstrates the technique to use a net, before letting you try. If you are lucky enough to catch a fish, the resort will prepare it for you.”
“The Foody Experience,” also arranged by the lodge for its guests, stars Mr Phou Mee, regarded as the village’s best cook.
“He will demonstrate how to cook traditional local food with fresh ingredients from the island, such as fish, vegetables, and rice,” Mr Beaupoil explained. “The participants are encouraged to cook with Mr Mee, before enjoying their lunch or dinner.”
Overnight homestays are available in Ban Hua Don Daeng, and can be arranged by the Chief of the village or La Folie. The lodge also organizes boat tours and sunset cruises.
Don Daeng and La Folie Lodge further present an alternative hub for exploring Champasak Province. The island sits across from Route 18 that climbs the Bolaven Plateau to its waterfalls, coffee plantation tours, and zip-line adventures. 
Further down the Mekong, travellers can explore more of the 4,000 Islands, such as taking a lap of the old French colonial centre of Don Khong, exploring the French railway and infrastructure on Don Khone and Don Det, andviewing the Khone Phapheng Waterfall near the Cambodian Border.
To reach Don Daeng, visitors staying at La Folie Lodge can transfer by van from the Pakse Airport for a fee. Those in Pakse accommdation can find a transportation at hotels, which head south on Route 13 for the short ride to Ban Muang and the ferry across the Mekong to the island.
La Folie Lodge offers 27 comfortable and luxuriously decorated bedrooms furnished with local materials, and have Mekong and garden view balconies. The pool presents a view of the River and the Vat Phou mountains. The poolside restaurant delivers continental cuisine and Asian specialties, and cocktail aficionados will not be disappointed by the chief barman’s specials.
