MY ISLAND HOME: DONKHO
I hadn’t stood on Mekong riverbank in Saphay looking over to Donkho since our last visit in 2000. It might be 1980, the year that we left Donkho, my island home, my birthplace.
Back then, the river was our playground. We ran barefoot on sandbars, fished with homemade nets, and hunted grasshoppers in the dry fields or nearby islands. Donkho’s soil gave us everything: rice, sweet potatoes, beans, watermelons, herbs, vegetables any at all.
When the tide dropped, the river revealed its secrets—rocks, beaches, hidden pools—and we’d explore them like adventurers.
Donkho has some of the best freshwater beaches anywhere in the world. Used to go for endless beach walking during sunset and had the fantastic time.
But time changes things. The rice paddies look so much smaller now, divided by new roads. I don’t recognize the faces of the people.
Yet the river stays the same. It flows as it always did, but the stranger I’ve become.
Donkho doesn’t ask why I left. It doesn’t need to. The island simply is —a quiet reminder that home lives not in a place, but in the stories we carry.
Come to visit Donkho everyone! Homestays are available now and there are fun adventurous activities to be done.
Below is a song dedicated to my other island home, birthplace. It’s called ” ສາວບ້ານດອນ” meaning Donkho Girl.
ສາວບ້ານດອນ
ເນື້ອງຮ້ອງຂຽນໂດຍ ອົດ ຈັນ
ຟາກເພັງສົ່ງເຖີງສາວດອນໂຄ
ໂທ້…ຢັງຈຳສຽງຮ້ອງໄດ້ບໍເດ
ສຽງຮ້ອງທີ່ເຄິຍກ້ອງຕາມຖຽງນາ
ບໍ່ຮູ້ວ່າສາວຍັງສະບາຍຫລືໃດ
ໃຈມັນຮຽກຮ້ອງຢາກສົ່ງສຽງຖີງ
ຢາກເຫັນຮ້ອຍຢີ້ມອີກຈາກສາວດອນໂຄ
ໂອ…. ຫລາຍປີທີ່ໄດ້ໜີຈາກໄປ
ໄປຢູ່ແສນໄກຈາກບ້ານດອນ
ຢັງເຫັນຮອຍຢີ້ມຂອງສາວບ້ານເຮົາ
ຫົວໃຈມັນຮ້ອນຕ້ອງຢ້ອນກັບຄືນມາ
