The Bolaven Plateau is famous for its cool climate, nice waterfalls and coffee plantations. To explore the plateau tourists can book tours in Pakse (not so cheap), travel with local buses (not so easy) or rent a motorbike (80.000 Kips/day). We opted to rent a motorbike as it is cheap and flexible. To prepare our trip we found very useful information at Sabaidy II Guesthouse. This Guesthouse also offers good tours. The advantage of a guided tour compare to a motorbike trip will be the visit of the coffee & the tea plantations and the ethnic villages. As independant travellers we did not have a chance to do those visits as there were no signs on the road.
Day 1: Pakse - Tad Lo (90 km)
We got up early in the morning and we quickly checked the weather... we were glad to find out that it was not raining. We packed a few clothes in a small backpack, we did not forget our rain gears (!), and we dropped our big backpacks in the storage room of our hotel. We left Pakse around 9am and it took us 3h15 to drive to Tad Lo, including a stop to visit the small but nice Phaxuam Cliff waterfalls (entrance fee 5.000 Kips per person + 2.000 Kips for the motorbike). We did not find the road to Tad Lo that scenic, there was some nice views on the mountains but nothing to do with the very nice landscapes we saw doing our motorbike trip North of Chiang Mai in Thailand. However the trip was pleasant as after the waterfall we mainly drove through banana and coffee plantations.
When we arrived in Tad Lo, we had a very nice (but expensive) meal at Tadlo Lodge. Afterwards when we started looking for a room we were surprised by the high prices. In this very small village, basic bungalows were priced from 30.000 to 70.000 Kips and nice rooms were from 150.000 to 200.000 Kips (only the ones at Tadlo Lodge were worth the money!). We managed to find at Siphaseth Guesthouse a comfortable twin room at a reasonable price (60.000 Kips). The room was a bit dusty but there was a nice balcony on the river.
There are three waterfalls in Tad Lo, Tad Hang that can be seen from the bridge in the village...and from our balcony (!), Tad Lo just a bit further than Tadlo Lodge and Tad Suong a few kilometers further up the river. We went with our motorbike to Tad Suong, the highest of the three waterfalls. To get to Tad Suong you have to pass Tadlo Lodge, keep driving another 2km to reach the power station where the road turns 90' right. Straight after there is a bridge to cross the river and you have to drive 4km to reach another road. Then you turn left, drive through a village and 1,5km further there is a board, easy to miss, indicating the turn to reach the waterfall. The narrow unsealed track goes first through a small village and then through the forest. From the main road it is just a kilometer to the parking lot. Then steep stairs lead to the top of the waterfall. This waterfall is quite impressive, not by its volume of water in the dry season, but by its height. The view was also very nice. Driving back to Tad Lo we saw locals taking their cows back from the fields and we noticed that quite a few were smoking opium in rolled banana leaves...
Day 2: Tad Lo "The elephant ride"
It rained all the morning so we had a relaxing time on our balcony. After lunch the rain finally stopped so we went on an elephant tour that other travelers recommended to us. For 50.000 Kips per person Tadlo Lodge offers very good value elephant rides. The 1h30 tour took us through the forest to an ethnic village via Tad Lo waterfall. Riding on an elephant is really a great experience, it makes you realise how big and powerful are those animals. A few times our guide asked the elephant to cut some branches that were on the way and we were impressed to see how easily the elephant did the job with its trunk. Along the way the elephant had to go through steep and slippery tracks and he also crossed two times the river. All went fine but we have to admit that it was a bit scary! We will highly recommend this elephant ride, the length of the tour is perfect (not too long, not too short), the forest and the waterfall are nice and the visit of the village interesting. After the ride we came back to our guesthouse just before it started to rain again! We spent the rest of the afternoon observing the river. We noticed that at anytime of the day, there are always a lot going on in this river, kids playing, people bathing, washing clothes and fishing. In Tad Lo, only tourists use showers, all local wash themselves in the river.
Day 3: Tad Lo - Paksong - Pakse (123km)
Before turning onto the unsealed road leading to Thateng we did tank our motorbike at the only proper petrol station of the area located in Ban Beng. The unsealed road to Thateng was in pretty good conditions, we drove through very poor villages and the landscapes were quite nice. Initially we wanted to spend a night in Paksong but driving through this very small town we did not feel like staying! So we decided to go back to Pakse. On the way we stopped at Tad Yuang and Tad Fan. Tad Yuang was definitely our favorite waterfall of the Bolaven plateau as it is impressive by its height and visitors can get very close to it and even swim at the bottom. Moreover the surrounding vegetation is very nice (5.000 Kips entrance fee plus 3.000 Kips to park the motorbike). Tad Fan is much higher than Tad Yuang but from the Tad Fan Resort viewpoint visitors can only see the top half of the waterfalls. As we had lunch at the Tad Fan resort we did not have to pay any entrance or parking fee. We were lucky as we managed to come back to Pakse without being caught under the rain!
Day 1: Pakse - Tad Lo (90 km)
We got up early in the morning and we quickly checked the weather... we were glad to find out that it was not raining. We packed a few clothes in a small backpack, we did not forget our rain gears (!), and we dropped our big backpacks in the storage room of our hotel. We left Pakse around 9am and it took us 3h15 to drive to Tad Lo, including a stop to visit the small but nice Phaxuam Cliff waterfalls (entrance fee 5.000 Kips per person + 2.000 Kips for the motorbike). We did not find the road to Tad Lo that scenic, there was some nice views on the mountains but nothing to do with the very nice landscapes we saw doing our motorbike trip North of Chiang Mai in Thailand. However the trip was pleasant as after the waterfall we mainly drove through banana and coffee plantations.
When we arrived in Tad Lo, we had a very nice (but expensive) meal at Tadlo Lodge. Afterwards when we started looking for a room we were surprised by the high prices. In this very small village, basic bungalows were priced from 30.000 to 70.000 Kips and nice rooms were from 150.000 to 200.000 Kips (only the ones at Tadlo Lodge were worth the money!). We managed to find at Siphaseth Guesthouse a comfortable twin room at a reasonable price (60.000 Kips). The room was a bit dusty but there was a nice balcony on the river.
There are three waterfalls in Tad Lo, Tad Hang that can be seen from the bridge in the village...and from our balcony (!), Tad Lo just a bit further than Tadlo Lodge and Tad Suong a few kilometers further up the river. We went with our motorbike to Tad Suong, the highest of the three waterfalls. To get to Tad Suong you have to pass Tadlo Lodge, keep driving another 2km to reach the power station where the road turns 90' right. Straight after there is a bridge to cross the river and you have to drive 4km to reach another road. Then you turn left, drive through a village and 1,5km further there is a board, easy to miss, indicating the turn to reach the waterfall. The narrow unsealed track goes first through a small village and then through the forest. From the main road it is just a kilometer to the parking lot. Then steep stairs lead to the top of the waterfall. This waterfall is quite impressive, not by its volume of water in the dry season, but by its height. The view was also very nice. Driving back to Tad Lo we saw locals taking their cows back from the fields and we noticed that quite a few were smoking opium in rolled banana leaves...
Day 2: Tad Lo "The elephant ride"
It rained all the morning so we had a relaxing time on our balcony. After lunch the rain finally stopped so we went on an elephant tour that other travelers recommended to us. For 50.000 Kips per person Tadlo Lodge offers very good value elephant rides. The 1h30 tour took us through the forest to an ethnic village via Tad Lo waterfall. Riding on an elephant is really a great experience, it makes you realise how big and powerful are those animals. A few times our guide asked the elephant to cut some branches that were on the way and we were impressed to see how easily the elephant did the job with its trunk. Along the way the elephant had to go through steep and slippery tracks and he also crossed two times the river. All went fine but we have to admit that it was a bit scary! We will highly recommend this elephant ride, the length of the tour is perfect (not too long, not too short), the forest and the waterfall are nice and the visit of the village interesting. After the ride we came back to our guesthouse just before it started to rain again! We spent the rest of the afternoon observing the river. We noticed that at anytime of the day, there are always a lot going on in this river, kids playing, people bathing, washing clothes and fishing. In Tad Lo, only tourists use showers, all local wash themselves in the river.
Day 3: Tad Lo - Paksong - Pakse (123km)
Before turning onto the unsealed road leading to Thateng we did tank our motorbike at the only proper petrol station of the area located in Ban Beng. The unsealed road to Thateng was in pretty good conditions, we drove through very poor villages and the landscapes were quite nice. Initially we wanted to spend a night in Paksong but driving through this very small town we did not feel like staying! So we decided to go back to Pakse. On the way we stopped at Tad Yuang and Tad Fan. Tad Yuang was definitely our favorite waterfall of the Bolaven plateau as it is impressive by its height and visitors can get very close to it and even swim at the bottom. Moreover the surrounding vegetation is very nice (5.000 Kips entrance fee plus 3.000 Kips to park the motorbike). Tad Fan is much higher than Tad Yuang but from the Tad Fan Resort viewpoint visitors can only see the top half of the waterfalls. As we had lunch at the Tad Fan resort we did not have to pay any entrance or parking fee. We were lucky as we managed to come back to Pakse without being caught under the rain!
