Pakse – The Bolaven Loop

Pakse itself didn’t have much going for it except as a base to ride a loop around what’s known as the Bolavan Plateau. Extreme heat and a lack of good food greeted us while for two days we explored and organised scooters to ride the loop.

Most people do the loop in 2 nights, 3 days but with the numerous waterfalls mostly dry and the countryside brown and dusty due to the dry season, Jay and I didn’t find a lot of reasons to hang around. We stopped at a coffee plantation and a few waterfalls and spent a memorable night camped beside a calm pool that was fed by a small waterfall. We were the only ones in the campground besides a couple of workers and wandering cows. The night was beautiful and clear which was perfect for sleeping in our tents which consisted of just the fly net inner. The other main highlight of Pakse was a delightful rooftop bar at the top of the Pakse Hotel from which to watch the sunset. We spent two nights here drinking ciders and cocktails and watching the sky change colours before the bats came out to swarm the air feasting.

Don Det

From Pakse, we took a bus south to a place called 4000 islands which is a multitude of islands on the Mekong River at the far south of Laos. We spent a few days on Don Det Island taking in the hippie vibe and trying to find some good food. A morning cycling around two islands on clunky rusted bikes in the brutal heat hit Jay hard and he spent the remainder of the day in bed. Another day on a kayaking tour down the Mekong, followed by a night drinking with the friends we made on the tour. The next day Jay and I were feeling rough and not at all looking forward to two days of buses to get from Don Det to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. One of the best things about Don Det is the amazing sunsets over the Mekong and all the little makeshift boats zipping around.

Vientiane

A couple of days here where we ate some amazing food and wandered along the stretch of the Mekong that borders the city and where the other side is Thailand. They have nightly markets along the river, and these were absolutely pumping both nights we were here. A pleasant surprise was the drastic improvement in food. The variety and flavour were definitely a few steps up from what we had experienced in the south.

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is known for its blue lagoons for swimming and its caves for exploring. A few years ago, it used to be the go-to party place where people floated in tubes down the river stopping at bars along the way and generally getting very messy. After repeated deaths and serious incidents, this scene was shut down by the police. Although you can still tube and drink, it’s a much tamer affair. Jay and I again hired scooters and explored some local lagoons and small hills which we hiked. We also collected Charlotte, a girl we met back in Don Det and she happily spent the day on the back of Jays bike as we toured around.

Charlotte suggested a pizza place for dinner that night with an Italian chef. I was hesitant as this would be my first western meal since getting to Asia, but the pizzas were amazing, and I did not regret the choice or the delicious limoncello that followed gratis.

Charlotte tried to convince us to hang around another couple of days and hire ATVs, but we were ready to move on and had a plane to catch in a few days so off we went the next morning to Luang Prubang.

Luang Prubang

More incredible sunsets and the best waterfalls we’d seen so far greeted us in Luang Prubang. The food continued to impress, and we ran into another friend from Don Det. The night markets were beautiful, if filled only with kitsch tourist items. We gorged on mango and Nutella crepes every night and kept on the hunt for some good coffee which we were seriously missing from our time in Vietnam. We found some on our second day and sadly didn’t get time to get back there. So after 17 days in Laos, off to Myanmar we went.