The land border between Laos and Cambodia is just a dusty little town filled with dollar noodles and stalls selling batteries and flip flops. Yet just beyond in each country are two little gems worth a day or two stop whilst traveling overland. Southern Laos possesses the 4,000 islands, also known as Siphandon. A riverine archipelago in the Mekong, most of the islands were submerged due to heavy rains. Yet the three largest and only inhabited islands remained, all encircled by cheap waterside bungalows adorned with hammocks. A good book and a fruit shake were the order of the day, a welcome retreat from weeks of daily activity.