All the guesthouses on Don Det and Don Khone sell bus tickets to get to various destinations in Laos and Cambodia. They all offer the same prices, except some guesthouses in Don Khone and our guesthouse that sell the same tickets but for a higher price. Initially we wanted to go to Champasak but realised that it might be a bit too complicated. None of the VIP and local buses go all the way to Champasak, they drop passengers at Ban Muang on their way to Pakse. Then travellers have to catch a ferry to reach the other side of the Mekong and have to travel by foot or tuk-tuk another 2km to Champasak.We opted to go directly to Pakse from where will we do a day trip to Champasak. There are two options to get to Pakse, the local bus (40.000 Kips) or the VIP bus (70.000 Kips). We opted for the VIP bus as other travellers did not advise us the local buses (very slow and uncomfortable) and it was well worth it. The 25min boat trip (included in our ticket) to Ban Nakasang from the guesthouse we bought the ticket from was very enjoyable. While we were waiting for our mini-van to depart, two Italian guys made us notice a weird phenomenon, around the sun there was a rainbow circle... no, no we did not drink any Lao Lao, see the picture. Our 2h30 mini-van trip to Pakse was very comfortable. We got dropped in the centre of Pakse and checked in at the Thaluang Hotel. We had a nice room with air-con and TV for 60.000 Kips (cheaper than Sabaidy II Guesthouse next door). In Pakse there is nothing to visit, this town is just a base to explore the Bolaven Plateau and the Wat Phu in Champasak. However as many travelers stay in town they are quite a few good cafes and restaurants.
