If you want visit the Bolaven Plateau for free and budget backpacking... this post is perfect for you!
Reach the southern city of Pakse From the cave of Kong Lor it was a mini odyssey that lasted about 15 hours. After changing the van twice we take a bus from the old ones, which took its half hour at each stop, because to lower the load of travelers who get off the roof of the bus is not easy, and the luggage is of the most varied ... from boats of 20 or 30 kg of paint to 3 tractors in parts, motorcycles, mattresses ... We arrived at Pakse at 4 in the morning busted, with a scraper and with the Guesthouses closed, except one, where we lay in the bed and sleep like little lambs.
The reason to spend the night in Pakse, like that of most other travelers, is none other than rent a motorcycle and take a tour of the area called Bolaven Plateau, dotted with impressive waterfalls, pretty villages, tall forests, and coffee fields (possibly the best coffee in Laos, or at least the most famous). We get a rather shabby map, but enough to know the directions we have to follow and with it we plan a route that will last the next 3 days.
The first stage
It was quite short. After touring about 90 km, making some stops to visit small towns, including some local parties with a dance contest, we arrived at the area of the Tad Lo waterfalls, and there we meet Mama! It has a rustic Guesthouse with bungalows at € 1 per person (imagine how they were for that price) and a restaurant with more than generous portions. But the most beautiful is the grandmother, who at dinner approaches us smoking her super cigar and begins to tell us some story that we did not understand, but the woman was so funny expelling those puffs of smoke from time to time that we did not resist to have a sincere laugh with her.
The second stage
It was much harder than the previous one. We knew that this would be the case for which we had a powerful breakfast with Mama and we got on our Honda 100 cc to tour the 200 km They did not expect.
Until halfway there is nothing complicated, they are not very busy asphalted roads that pass through a multitude of villages. But at about 12 in the morning we arrive at the crossing indicated on our map and we turn towards the forest. The asphalt gives way to the earth, and the plain to the mountains. 70 km are waiting for us on dirt tracks that sometimes became mud.
Virtually incommunicado from the rest of the world but with very high morale because the landscapes are beautiful. Also, here we meet almost suddenly with two of the most impressive waterfalls in Laos, and upon arrival at the town where we finished the stage, another surprise awaits us, a super hotel !!, after 7 hours on the bike we find paradise.
We check that the motorcycle is perfectly and we are glad we did not suffer any puncture ... apparently ... The next day the motorcycle dawns with the wheel deflated, a hole in the camera has caused the wheel to gradually deflate (a pore) and that During the night you run out of air completely. Bad luck, but good luck to find next to the hotel a workshop that in 10 minutes, and after an instructive repair (and cheap ... € 1) leaves us the perfect motorcycle, yes, it continues full of mud. (Ok, have they made us thirteen-fourteen? Fuck that naive ...)
The third stage
In theory it would be the return to Pakse, but since we had caught the taste of the motorcycle (now I understand you Cousin Pichili), we decided to go to visit the Vat Phu temple, about 50 km from Pakse. Before, we make two stops to visit the Tad Yuang waterfalls and its beautiful gardens, and the impressive but inaccessible Tad fan, perhaps the one that has most disappointed us, not because of the waterfall itself, but because there is no way to contemplate it in all its splendor.
We return to Pakse after touring a total of 420km almost falling the night (the visit to the ruins of the ancient temple of Vat Phu and the passage through the town of Champasak we will tell them in the next post), we will return our traveling companion to her little house and enjoy the moon eclipse that only You can contemplate from this part of the world.
ROUTE SUMMARY
- Day 1: Pakse - Tad Lo. Total 90 km. At 21 km take the turnoff to the left towards Salavan.
- Day 2: Tad Lo - Pakxong. Total 200 km. After 4 km, turn right onto Sekong. 22 km later following this same direction, take a detour to the left and after 46 km you will arrive. Follow Attapeu direction for about 30 km, after which you take the turn to the right direction Pakxong (beware of this). Dirt road for 71 km and you will reach Pakxong.
- Day 3: Pakxong - Champasak - Pakse. Total 130 km. We leave towards Pakse and 8 km before arriving take the turnoff to the left towards Ban Muang and 4,000 islands. After 30 km turn right to find a sign announcing the Vat Phu 17 km. You reach the coastal town of Ban Muang, where you take a boat for 20,000 km (motorcycle and two people) to the other side of the Mekong. Once at the other port, take the road on the left to Champasak and follow directions to Vat Phu. Although if you want to save the boat you can go on the new road, through which we return.
- The return we made it on the new road on the same side of the Mekong as Champasak (without having to take the boat) that leads directly to Pakse in about 35 km.
Here we leave youmaps We have done for the occasion, they are not super accurate but can give you an idea.
Waterfalls:
- Tad Lo: There are 3 free waterfalls in the surroundings. Here we leave the map of the park.
- Tad Faek and Tad Hua Kon: between Sekong and Attapeu. You can turn down a cart to see the first one (for a fee) and follow it to the main road. 1 km from the reentry in this is the second (free).
- Katamtock and another that we don't know the name. Section between Ban Lak 52 and Pakxong. First is the unknown on the right bank of the road, then on the left bank is Katamtock. Both visible only from the road.
- Tad Yuang and Tad Fane. On the stretch from Pakxong to Pakse. Both payment (5,000 pax and 3,000 motorcycle). It is worth paying for both.
Transport. How to get to Pakse?
- From Kong Lor to Pakse You have to change several times of transport: first a van that leaves Kong Lor at about 12 or 1. It takes about 45 minutes and reaches the town of Khoun Kham, there you take another van that takes you to Vieng Cam for others 45 minutes. Both cost 25,000 K. All buses that go south pass through Vieng Cam, so it's a matter of waiting and being lucky to stop one soon, and to be one of the modern ones. We took the one that was already standing, but it was a very old one. We pay this bus at 90,000 K.
- Rent the motorcycle in Pakse It's simple, there are many stores that offer rates of 60,000K per day, and 50,000K if you rent it for 3 or more days. They are the semi-automatic 4 gears, but surely looking for a little more are the automatic ones. We put a total of 75,000K of gasoline for 420km.
Accommodation. Where to sleep in Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau?
- In Pakse We slept the first and last night of the route in the Vilaysing (without bath) and in the Lankham. Both for 60,000K a night, the first better than the second.
- On the route at the Bolaven Plateau: on day 1 we slept in Tad Lo at Guesthouse Mamapaps, for 20,000K a night. The second day we slept in Pakxong at the Vangai hotel for 60,000K (very good!).
