The Bolaven Plateau and on to Thakhek

We hired a car and driver today through our hotel to take us on a tour of the Bolaven Plateau and then drop us at the bus station in Pakse, from where we will board our roughly 8-hour bus ride to Thakhek.

The Bolaven Plateau is an elevated region rising above the heat of the Mekong valley. The area is full of coffee and tea plantations and has a number of beautiful waterfalls. The books recommend spending a few days here, and even doing a 4-5 day motorbike trip around the plateau, but we decided to just see it on a half-day trip. This morning we visited two of the waterfalls (Tad Fane and Tad Champee), as well as a coffee & tea plantation in Paxsong.

It's about 2 pm and we are now at a Pakse bus station waiting for our bus to show up. Nobody here at the bus station speaks English, and there is no indication when the bus will arrive. Hopefully soon!

For lunch I had a light tofu-eggplant curry, and Craig had a chicken Laap dish that, according to Craig, was quite spicy. I’ll have to remember to take more food pics!

4:55pm. We just made a stop somewhere in a local town to pick up some additional passengers. The stop was near a market and several vendors came in our bus selling everything from water, snacks, and whole roast chickens. Some of them were quite aggressive if anyone showed any interest.Read more