Si Phan Don

Si Phan Don, meaning four thousand islands in Lao, is a riverine archipelago on the Mekong River in Champasak Province in southern Laos, near the border with Cambodia. The archipelago is made up of many islands and islets, about half of which are seasonally submerged during flooding, shaped by the Mekong river's shifting channels and by the rapids of the Khone Phapheng Falls, a stretch of impassable cataracts that once forced traders to build a French era railway around them. The four principal islands, Don Khong, Don Som, Don Det and Don Khon, carry most of the population and tourism, while the smaller islands see few visitors. The area's economy has shifted from timber logging toward agriculture and, increasingly, tourism centered on the larger islands. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/