1 week in Laos

I would look at 3 days minimum in L. Prabang ,its not a world heritage site for nothing . I found Pakse to be an interesting corner of Laos , but not deserving of 5 days .One can do a full day tour from Pakse up to the Bolevan plateau and visit coffee plantation ,waterfalls and hill tribe people . Another day you can be on the Mekong .

I enjoyed Luang Prabang, it had a nice vibe to it, plenty to see, and plenty of good cafe/restaurants, so nice place to relax, another suggestion is to then head to Vang Vieng by bus, interesting bus ride, and VV is a nice place to chill out, then short bus ride to Vientiane, then either flight to BKK or overnight train.

Generally two days is enough in Luang Prabang if you just want to chill out. Except for the night markets, the night life is very quiet. Take a ride to Khuang Sii waterfall and spend the morning there. You can get decent food there. It's about 40 minutes out of town via car or tuk-tuk.

If you're heading to Pakse organise a couple of days to the Bolaven Plateau about 50 kilometres from Pakse. Buses run regularly between Pakse and Paksong. It's the centre of the coffee growing industry in Laos. Higher altitude and a bit cooler. You can find decent accommodation in Paksong.

If you have time, a trip to Tad Lo in Salavan is worth a look. It's on the north-eastern edge of the Bolaven Plateau. There is a fabulous waterfall and good accommodation at a resort there. There are cabins in the forest on the side of the river, walking distance from the main resort building. You can get to Tad Lo via Pakse. Take a loop from Pakse to Paksong then the 16 road to Tad Lo, then the 20 road back to Pakse. It's about a 200 kilometre round trip, but you can break it up in Paksong and Tad Lo. This time of the year, the water level at Tad Lo will be quite low.

I go along with the view that a minimum of 2 days in LP is neccessary - it is delightfulk and there areplenty of side trips to makeI would skip Pakse and the South - I find it rather ordinary, so agree with your conclusion.

A couple of other ideas
1) take a boat from LP up to HuayXaiand enter Th there, crossing thyen to Chiang Rai
2) Make your way to Vientianne stopping over in Viang Vieng, them cross the Fiendship Bridge into TH, (Nong Khai) taking the sleeper to BKK - there are worse places than Nong Khai to overnite also.

If you dont wish to enter BKK from Nong Khai - you can always fly to BKK AP from Udon Thani.

Thanks a million for all that. Would you guys recommend Si Phan Dong for a cupla days?

Just choose one imo...Pakse is a nondescript town but close to the Bolaven pateau and Champassak area..easy to spend a week around there. LP is nice to relax if you have been travelling for a while but can be missed these days imo.

.....but as you are flying into Lp anyway, take a look around. The highlight for me is the sunsrise /sunset views from he hilltop pagoda...forgotten the name. Go early to get a pace as it will be full of tourists/ tour groups...

Dunno if its too late but I'd go from Pakse to 4000 Islands (~2-3hrs) and chill there for about 3 nights. Great place for lying in hammocks by the river, making new friends as the island is tiny so you keep bumping into the same people (we were on Don Det) and if you want a break from all the relaxing I'd recommend the day kayaking trip where we actually saw the dolphins, and saw some waterfalls as well. Pakse itself theres not much to do so don't need long there unless you want to use it as a base to go other places.