From Savannakhet we arrived in Pakse !! Pakse is not a very beautiful city, during our stay nothing was interesting to us. It has a shabby shopping center, the part that overlooks the Mekong River is covered with buildings that impede access … who has thought of not dumping the city into the incredible river that caresses it …? The street with the most guesthouses, hotels and restaurants for tourists is the one with the most traffic, it is the same road that crosses the country …

We were staying at Lankham guesthouse for 60,000 kips a night. We found a guesthouse for 50,000, Noknoi, but the first one seemed to have more traffic to sell our precious and precious companion, the Vietnamese Dynamite (a dramatic break in her honor …). That’s right, since we could not get the bike through the super corrupt Laos – Cambodia border, we had to sell it before. We place ads everywhere, even on the bike itself.

It should be noted an Indian restaurant that is not bad and is very cheap, Jasmin restaurant, vegetarian dishes are worth 10,000 kips, those who carry meat 20,000 kips, rice and naam 5,000 kips each … ñam!

We also found a vegetarian restaurant that surprised us !! It was very good, and cheap, Vegetarian Food Pakse, recommended !! Also, the Daolin restaurant was not bad but the price was a hair more expensive. As a counter-point, we went to eat a hamburger at the restaurant Pizza boy, next to our gueshouse, and they served us shit, yes, with bread, and the floor was a highway of cockroaches … so, if you can, avoid it.

Returning to the Vietnamese Dynamite … before selling it we had to make one last trip, the so-called Bolaven Plateau. A beautiful start and end in Pakse, such as the Thakhek loop, crossing the plateau of the interior of Laos at an average altitude of 1000 m (above sea level). This plateau is famous for the coffee plantations introduced by the French at the beginning of the last century. The specialty is Arabica and Robusta coffee. The complete route can be done in 3-4 days, but we did a reduced trip in 2 days.

We started the road proud with our Vietnamese Dynamite, the first stop was Mr. Vieng’s coffee plantation. It is a very well designed farm where you can taste coffee, buy a souvenir, stay for the night, and Mr. Vieng takes you on a tour of the plantation explaining curiosities of both the coffee and the fauna of the place.

It was worth it, it was interesting, we could see the process of growth and preparation of the coffee, from the flower to the roasted grain, we could also know about medicinal plants, we saw the peanut plant, fruits unknown to us, and huge red ants that They bite you and do not let your jaw drop until your death, so if they put you by ear or nose you have to go to the doctor … and if you also rub them (and kill them) they taste like lemon and have a strong smell of vinegar.

We had a delicious cup of coffee (we were jumping all day) it cost us 10,000 kips and the tour 20,000 kips per person.

After the visit we continue our way towards Tad Lo, a little village next to the river Se Set, bathed by three waterfalls.

We stayed at Sailomyen guesthouse, we paid 30,000 kips for the night, a shabby wooden cabin with a balcony facing the river, where the children played in the water … and there we went to take a bath after the hot trip.

There are three waterfalls, one is in the same town, the other two are walking upstream. On the way you find two elephants owned by a hotel. At 17:30 you can see how they bathe and feed them. It’s a pity to see them so docile chained to a stake that they could start without problems … We do not stay to not be participants. Once in the waterfalls, they are beautiful but not spectacular.

For dinner we went to Mama Pap, where the portions are giant … and the prices very reasonable, the dishes cost between 15,000 and 20,000 kips, recommended.

The next morning we went to Kok Phoung Tai, a nearby village where a Mr. O Captain Hook makes a coffee tour for his land and shows you his village. It is about the Khmu ethnic group. This ethnic group comes from India, and after passing through Cambodia they settled in the south of Laos.

The entrance to the town (they charge 2000 kips / person) is a mud road, on each side there are cabins, sometimes wooden barracks. Everything is full of farm animals, pigs, chickens, plus dogs and cats. Children flutter semi-naked playing.

We finally arrived at Mr. Hook’s house. His wife receives us, we ask him for a coffee (for 10,000 kips), this time one for both, the day before we were like motorcycles until too late because of the coffee … He prepared it with a bamboo coffee machine !! Very authentic! The result was spectacular, much better than the day before, the coffee could almost be chewed, mixed with a little sugar was delicious …

Finally Mr. Hook arrived, he was coming back with two guys from the previous tour. And entionces we started our tour (15,000 kips per person) walking through the coffee plantations while Mr. Hook recited us in a monotonous way and without too much interest the history of coffee, from its discovery to all existing classes.

I was about to stretch out on the floor to take a nap … After a while and show us the local fruits, the same ants and how to make soap bubbles with a twig in a circle and the soapy sap of a bush, we started the tour by his village, very interesting!

He explained that they are very superstitious, they believe that if you take a picture you steal their soul, if you knock on the door of their house, or to a wall you chase away good spirits, so you have to compensate them by giving away a water buffalo.

At present they perform periodic rituals. The women, after giving birth, have to go with other women to the cemetery and spend two weeks there without returning to the village. When they return the guru asks them if the child is good or bad, if they say bad they throw the child, so they all say it is good. In the next full moon the guru asks the mother what she has dreamed and interpreting this dream names the child. If you have not dreamed that night you should wait until the next full moon, and so on until you dream. He says that there are children who have been nameless for many years …

Women can never leave the village, they work, so a man marries several women to support him. She even explained to us that her 9-year-old niece had just married a man of 40 … In case of death, if it is accidental, your family should go 5 years to live in the forest, without being able to return to the village, to scare away the bad luck and evil spirits. During the walk he pointed to an abandoned house of a family that had been in the forest for 2 years due to the accidental death of their son. Every full moon they tie a dog to a post and they kill him with blows as an offering to the good spirits, he assured us that they no longer made human offerings, only dogs …

The houses housed families of up to 90 members … The children started smoking at 3 years to scare away evil spirits and mosquitoes … That was like the middle ages, but without the “like”, closed villages, only open to rural technology that made life a little more comfortable, ah! and television … do not miss. He told us that they bought almost nothing, they raised or cultivated everything … that strong … a huge cultural shock … After the visit we went to take another tour of the town, even “we talked” with the locals …

After the impressive information received and observed in the village, we continue our journey going through Pakson, without any interest, until we reach the Tad Yuang waterfalls. We paid 25,000 kips per person, but it was worth it. They are impressive, about 50 meters high and good flow, you can see it from above and from below.

Following some stairs you reach 10 meters from the fall, in a few minutes you end up completely wet, and you can see a fantastic rainbow making almost an entire circle !! a beautiful image, powerful and very humid. This waterfall is spectacular because you can see it a few meters away.

The next waterfall is Tad Fane, which also cost 25,000 kips. This waterfall is much higher, about 100 meters, although with less flow. The problem is that it is observed at a great distance and it is not appreciated, it is not worth the price, you can save it peacefully …

And already back in Pakse we are dedicated to review the sale of the bike … After a few days, having no acceptable offer, we decided to continue traveling with our Vietnamese Dynamite to Don Det and sell there.

So … see you at Don Det !!