Destination: Laos
LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Bolaven & Beyond
10 TO 14 DAYS/PAKSE TO PAKSE
On this roughly 650km journey you'll climb into the coffee- growing districts of the Bolaven Plateau, see spectacular waterfalls, and visit villages little-changed since the Ho Chi Minh Trail passed.
This trip into the remote provinces of southern Laos can be done by bus and truck, by private vehicle or motorbike - a 100cc variety will do - and is best in the dry season.
After a day or two getting organised in Pakse, head up onto the Bolaven Plateau and Laos's most impressive waterfall at Tat Fan, from where treks into the rustic Dong Hua Sao NPA can be arranged. At the coffee capital of Paksong you could stop to buy some Java before continuing on to Sekong, passing through Laven, Katang and other villages en route. Use Sekong as a base to visit the renowned weavers in nearby Alak villages and waterfalls including the breathtaking Nam Tok Katamtok.
If the river is full enough, head down the Se Kong for an unforgettable trip into Attapeu Province. Sleepy Attapeu is an easy place to hang out, interrupting your sunsets-by-the-Se Kong with bumpy day trips out to the Ho Chi Minh Trail villages of Pa-am and Phu Vong.
Head back up Rte 16, through Sekong and turn north at Muang Tha Taeng on a long, downhill laterite road to Beng. Check out Salavan for a day and arrange transport along the rarely travelled road to Tahoy, once an important marker on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and now a more peaceful home of the Ta-oy (Tahoy) people, plus a few noisy tigers.
Beautiful Tat Lo and its inevitable backpackers will be a shock after days with little, if any, contact with Westerners, and Phasoume Resort makes an attractive lunch spot before the trip back to Pakse.
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