Mr & Mrs Wanderlust : Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau

Getting There

To get to Pakse we took a minivan from Don Det, It cost 70,000 LKP including the boat from Don Det to the mainland.

On arriving in Pakse it became apparent there was very little to do in the town itself, So we found a good guesthouse called Sabadee2. Then went and planned our motorbike ride around the Bolivan Plateau.

We found a very helpful man who rented us a motorbike for 50,000 Lkp a day for a new Honda Wave. He also gave us maps and showed us all the good waterfalls and places to stay. We decided to come back the following morning to pick the bike up.

The next morning we were up early and had breakfast in Daolin Restaurant. This place served great Laos food, and was quite affordable. we picked up the bikes (a friend was riding with us) at 9 am. Filled them up with fuel and were on the road.

We rode for about an hour before we stopped at the first waterfall it was very nice, had a swim, had a snack we had bought with us and relaxed for another hour before we went back to the bikes and rode off for a coffee.

A short ride around 20 mins and we were in an village with its own coffee plantation. We ordered 3 coffees and were given some peanuts and jungle Bananas . We ended up sitting there for ages, hiding from the midday sun, it was a very peaceful spot. So peaceful that once the guy served us a coffee he went straight for his lunchtime nap in the hammock.

Then it was back on the bike on the way to Tad Lo this place was stunning, there was green forest all around, 2 waterfalls to swim in and nice guest houses and restaurant's. There was also a partner restaurant with Daolin in Pakse called Bumblebee Cafe. So we ate here for dinner and breakfast the following morning.

We had a relaxed start the next morning, after breakfast getting on our bikes and heading off. Our friend was taking a different route to us today, as be had a flight to catch.

We rode the long route and stopped for an ice coffee in Sekong. We bought it at a roadside stand and met a lovely couple. They spoke a little English, but were grinning from ear to ear that we stopped at their stand. The husband also did not less us leave till he was 100% sure we knew where we were going. Meeting these two did bring a bit of light and laughter to our day.

We rode to the next waterfall which was the tallest of all the waterfalls on the plateau however you could only view it from a distance. Then a short hop on to the next waterfall where we planned to stay the night. It was down a long dusty muddy road, very different to the nice smooth tarmac we had ridden. It was also a major access road for a quarry. Meaning every few minutes a big truck would come past covering us in the red dust from the road. We got the waterfall and it was very nice, but the staff at the restaurant were quite rude and both food and accommodation was massively overpriced and some other backpackers said the food wasn't very good. So we rode on to the next major town, via the dusty mud road, it was dry, and baron here, it felt like we were riding through Africa.

We made it to Paksong and stayed in a guesthouse here which was very cheap and we found out why, the room was clean, but half the hotel was having building work which woke us up nice and early. So we went for a coffee at Jhai Coffee, an organic coffee shop that invests its profits into providing clean drinking water to the remote villages in the area.

We went from here to our last and favourite waterfall, it was stunning, like something from Lord of the Rings. So we had a swim and sat to dry before riding back to Pakse where we had dinner in Daolin before getting a hellish night bus to Vang Vieng.