South East Asian Trips

Don Khong (meaning Khong Island, Khong being the Laotian name of the surrounding Mekong) is a good place to sit around for a few days. There are about 55000 inhabitants, mainly concentrated in the two villages Muang Saen (west) and Muang Khong (east). There is a village in the north, Ban Dong, and one in the south, Ban Huay,

Climate

The annual monsoon cycle gives Laos two distinct seasons: May to October is wet and November to April is dry.Southern Laos gets the most rain overall; the peaks of the Annamite Chain receive the heaviest rainfall, over 3000mmi annually.The provinces of Luang Prabang, Sainyabuli and Xieng Khuang usually receive only 1000 to 1500mm a year. Vientiane and Savannalchet get about 1500 to 2000mm, as do Phongsali, Luang Nam Tha and Bokeo.In the Mekong River valley (from Bokeo Province to Champasak Province) the highest temperatures (up to 38ºC) occur March/April and the lowest are in December/ January (as low as 15ºC).

In the mountains of Xieng Khuang December/January nights can easily fall to OºC. In mountainous provinces of lesser elevation, temperatures may be a few degrees higher. During most of the rainy season, daytime averages are about 29ºC in the lowlands and around 25ºC in mountain valleys