Pakse to Tad Lo

After taking it easy yesterday, there was a bit more driving to be done today.

The plan was to do the Bolaven Plateau loop and see how far we would make it in the loop. The first stop after leaving Pakse was the Tad Fane waterfall. It's a pretty cool waterfall and definitely worth a stop.

After tad Fane, it's just a short drive to the Tad Gneaung waterfall, where you can also get nice food and enjoy a chat with the very nice owner.

Once you are past these waterfalls, the next stop is Paksong where you should stop at Jhai Coffee for a really nice cup of local coffee and a chat with the owner who knows a lot about the local coffee and can give you a tour.

We arrived right when he was being interviewed by a crew for a documentary about Laos and the local coffee.

After enjoying the coffee, a quick bite and sheltering from a small shower it was time to head onwards.

The next part is on a road that you don't have on Google maps (even 3 years later after they finished the road) so just use Maps.Me or follow the signs towards Attapeu and Sekong.

The road will lead you through the mountains down from the plateau past some really amazing views. Since they completed the road it's a lot easier to drive than it was 3 years ago but you should still watch out not to end like the car in the photo above.

Once you are on road 11, it's an easy ride to Attapeu or Sekong, since we wanted to do the loop, we were heading towards Sekong and from there to Thateng.

After a quick stop for some Huda beer (yes, I know) we started to head on to make it to Tad Lo before it got too late.

Tad Lo is still a very sleepy town hidden away, the tad Lo waterfall is it's main attraction but it's more the peace and quiet that gets people here filling up the many guesthouses.
Staying in Tad Lo, you'll definitely go to bed early as even 8pm feels like midnight with most places closed and all the locals being in their homes.

Views from Phu Salao Temple

Since I had enough time and nothing much to do, I spent the day chilling and took a short drive to the Phu Salao temple in Pakse.

The temple is on the hill overlooking Pakse and the surrounding area so next to the nice temple you get some great views. Definitely worth a drive up here if you're in Pakse.

It was very hot as always in Laos but the incoming rain helped cool it down a bit and made it more pleasant.

Thakek to Pakse

After the long drive yesterday, I figured it will be a relaxed day without too much driving. Well, since a friend couldn't get his bike from Thailand into Laos at the border crossing near Thakek we had to change the meeting place to Pakse instead.

Since it was only 360km away, I took my time in the morning and had a breakfast first before setting off.

The road between Thakek and Pakse is mostly unspectacular with only few interesting things to see but on the upside, it's easy to drive.

This meant I made it to Pakse in a very good time and had the late afternoon and evening to go around and take some photos since my friend got delayed for another day at the border due to some paperwork.

Lesson learned from this, it's much easier to take a bike from Vietnam to Laos and back without having to worry about any paperwork but if you do come from Thailand make sure you have the correct paperwork with you.

Pakse was not my favorite city even 3 years ago when travelling but it's a good base to explore the Bolaven Plateau and the 4000 Islands. For now however I just enjoyed the great scenery around the city.

Day 196 - Back to Pakse and the Market there

Started the day easy and with a relaxed breakfast before going to get the boat back from Don det, this involved a lot of arguing about the price and I ended up overpaying but this is life if you only have one guy with a boat capable of carrying a motorbike.

The way back to Pakse was long but uneventful and I have mostly been taking it easy and cruising along without taking many photos.

Once in Pakse I have tried to find the bus station from where the bus to Ubon Ratchathani departs but it moved so I was not able to find it. Then it was about finding a guest house but not before taking some photos around the market, being a bit lazy I took them all from the motorbike and not while walking around the market.

Eventually I found a guesthouse offering everything I was looking for and not charging too much but it was pretty far away from the main center but a bit closer to the bus stop that I finally managed to track down.

In the morning I will be heading out of Laos and on to Thailand, to Ubon Ratchathani first and in the evening to Bangkok via and overnight train.

I have to say, I like Laos but will not miss it particularly as I am Vietnam and some other places, there is also no rush to go back. Somehow it did not click with me and I found it too touristy, mostly French tourists.