Travel Guide Pakse – Laos / What to do near Pakse – Bolaven Plateau
Explore Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau on your tour of Laos. This area is full of pristine jungle, amazing waterfalls and the high altitude of the Bolaven Plateau makes it a success for coffee plantations.
In this blog, you will find tips for exploring the Pakse area.
Where is Pakse?
The city of Pakse is located in the Bolaven Plateau in Chapasak province in southern Laos. Pakse is Laos’ second largest city with a population of over 88,000 in southern Laos. GPS location Pakse
Je komt in Pakse per bus en deze komt vanuit verschillende bestemmingen hier binnen, bijvoorbeeld ook Thailand of Cambodja.
How many to visit Pakse
You will find Pakse among the extensive nature of southern Laos and on the Bolaven plateau. For that reason it is a must to spend 1 to 2 days here. You can make a wonderful day trip from this city, but the city itself is also worth a walk!
Travel Guide Pakse – Laos
I booked a beautiful trip in the Pakse area and spent time in nature and visited the coffee plantations.
Pakse famous for the Pakse Loop
You can also rent a scooter in the area: That is of course a super fun challenge. There is the Pakse loop (the large loop is 320 km and the small one 220 km) that you can complete in 3 or 4 days and thus discover the Bolaven plateau around Pakse at your leisure!
Or how about the Thakek Loop? This is located about 300 km higher in Laos. Here you also have a beautiful route of 450 km around the city of Thakek.
Who lives in the Bolaven Plateau?
There are several tribes living in this area and the Bolaven plateau is named after one of these indigenous peoples, the Laven. There are also the Aluk, Katang and Taoy peoples who live here. It is certainly interesting to take a look in a village.
What to do near Pakse – Bolaven Plateau
Views over the Xe Don / Mekong river in Pakse
I don’t remember what my hotel is called but I was close to the Mekong River and Xe Don and then you get some nice river views from the bridges!
Travel Guide Pakse – Temples
Visiting temples in Pakse
The colourful temples of Laos are also well worth a visit. Here I visited the Wat Luang which was close to my hotel. I always love to see how everyone spends their time in a temple. Making a sacrifice or burning some incense…
I also walked down the main road and ended up at a monastry, which brings with it a very different atmosphere. Several young monks were studying and this gave me a completely different feeling. Everyday life goes on at such a monastery too and so I saw a young monk playing on his smartphone 🙂
Which I missed and read a lot about is the Wat Phou Salao.
Ik heb deze enorme Boedha in de bergen wel op de foto, vanaf een grote afstand. Hij is namelijk zichtbaar vanuit vele hoeken en vanaf een behoorlijke afstand. Als je nog een leuke trip extra wil maken dan is deze tempel wel een aanrader!
The view from Wat Phou Salao will also be super of course!
Travel Guide Pakse – Laos
Visit the Waterfalls – Bolaven Plateau
Waterfalls near Pakse
Tad Fane Waterfall
The highest and most famous waterfall is the Tad Fane waterfall. The waterfall is 120 meters high and actually has a double waterfall which makes it very special. We were brought to a nice viewpoint to watch the water spectacle for a while!
Tad Lo Waterfall
You will find several waterfalls near the town of Tad Lo. For example the Tad Low, Tad Hang and Tad Suong waterfalls. Here you can swim, cool off and enjoy your lunch. During the day trip from Pakse that I had booked, we had our lunch break here and so I had time to walk around and enjoy the surroundings, nature, the butterflies and the reptiles that I encountered. Really, moments like that always make me happy.
Pha Suam Waterfall
Near the town of Don you will find the Pha Suam waterfall. We stopped here in the afternoon to take a nice walk. At the end of the walk we of course arrived at the waterfall. I loved it! Especially because the walk also took us over this beautiful bridge!
I love these kinds of spots!
And the final waterfall was definitely worth seeing!
Travel Guide Pakse & surrounding
Visit the traditional villages
Along the way you’ll come across all kinds of small villages. People are just as curious about you as the other way around…and especially the children of course!
BUT.. Please don’t just hand out candy or give the begging children some change, it’s just making them beg more. It is much more fun to spend some time with them by playing a game.
How wonderful it is to walk through a village and try to make contact with the people.
In many of the villages they weave beautiful scarves and rugs. If you want to spend some money then buy a nice souvenir for yourself or for your family back home.
Tea- & Coffeeplantion in Paksong
Tea and coffee plants grow well on the Bolaven Plateau, so you will find many plantations here. Of course you’ll pass several tea or coffee plantations and you have to drink a cup of coffee there, right?
Maybe buy some coffee to give to coffee lovers at home?
Travel Guide Pakse & Bolaven Plateau
Of course, this can all be done in one day… but discovering Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau you can also do in several days of course. Nowadays I would done that but when I was on my first solo travel in 2012 I took less time to really discover a destination. Having ‘only’ 2 months and wanted to see everything 🙂
If you take more time and rent a scooter or motorbike to drive around on your own, keep in mind that you have to have a driver’s license and check if your insurance covers this!
The Pakse area and Bolaven Plateau is really great and Iwould love to go back to discover more.
Stay in Pakse
Are you looking for a nice and affordable stay? The Sanga Hostel is in the city and can arrange everything for you. Just like the hotel I had in 2012, this is located close to the Wat Luang temple.
Are you not looking for a hostel but a slightly more luxurious option? Then take a look at the Heaven Guesthouse.
Coming & Going Pakse
Buses run from all over the country, but also from Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand. Pakse also has an airport, so you can come to Pakse by plane.
Phonsavan (I don’t recommend this)
I came all the way from Phonsavan on a hell of a 1.5 day drive. I can’t recommend this to anyone. The bus was a really old one…I hope they are all replaced now! But… You do need to visit the Plain of Jars in Phonsavan though!
But I will never forget this day!
At one point we went through a river because the road was flooded and the bridge had never been built, yet…. So I had to get in this bus as well because a VIP van in which you could travel a lot in Laos would not have gotten through that river!
Four Thousand Islands
This is a great trip and easy to do. Relax a few days in the beautiful wetlands of Si Phan Don! Read more about Four Thousands Islands
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Want to read more about Laos?
Four Thousand Islands – Si Phan Don – Laos
Sunset from Phu Si & Tips for Luang Prabang
Visiting the Mysterious Plain of Jars – Phonsavan
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