At the Southern tip of Laos the Mekong widens and becomes shallower and full of islands which range massively in size. Many are uninhabited but there are two which have beome a focus for tourists to visit and enjoy the river, with it’s rapids and waterfalls. We found this to be a super peaceful place that we didn’t to leave!
A short post of our couple of days spent in Champassak, a quiet town set along the river south of Pakse. Home to Wat Phu, which is an old ruined Khmer temple like Angkor Wat, many travellers pass this place without stopping. We decided it was worth a stay and weren’t disappointed.
We only spent a day in the capital before moving on via a 16 hour sleeper bus, tuktuk and local bus to the rural village of Tad Lo on the Bolaven Plateau. A place of waterfalls, local villages and extreme relaxation. We booked to stay two nights here but ended up staying for four as we didn’t want to leave!
This town once had a reputation as a major party destination, with drugs available in the restaurants and bars, and many accidents on the river. Not somewhere for children… It’s been cleaned up though, and we were one of many families here! The town itself is touristy and uninteresting, but the surrounding mountains and rivers make this a great place for some outdoor fun on a budget.
We had six nights booked here, so there was a lot of pressure for it to be good. Luckily we loved this city, with its wooden French colonnial houses with shutters, winding alleyways and views of the Mekong. We spent five days exploring waterfalls, wandering temples and alleyways, eating, perusing markets and teaching English to Laos children!
We got lucky here, and managed to secure a tour boat for our two day journey down the Mekong to Luang Prabang for not much more than we would have paid with the local transport boat which most travellers take. As this boat was virtually empty, we had a super relaxing few days on the water 🙂