Southern Laos Itinery

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michien
michien

Hi,

I am planning on travelling a few days in Southern Laos in late April-early May. Looking for some advice on timings etc. I am thinking of doing the following:

Hoi an to Kon Tum on mbike
Kon Tum to Attapeau on bus - 1 night Attapeau
Attapeau to Tad Lo by bus (or does anyone know if I can hire a mbike with guide to do this?). How long does it take by bus and by mbike?
2 nights Tad Lo - anyone recommend a 1 day trek through villages?
Tad Lo to Pakse by bus - want to stop at Tat Fan. Can you jump off 1 bus, have a look around then get on another passing bus to Pakse? How long will the full journey take?
1 night Pakse
Pakse to Danang via air

What are your thoughts on this? Am I going to spend all of my time on the road? Also, can you get VOA at the Bo Y border?

Thanks for your help...

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michien
michien

Found this advice over at Tripadvisor - thanks to bluecramp over there - anyone have anything else?

You can get a mbike with driver through "Easy Riders" from Hoian to drop you at Kon Tum easy enough - it woud take best part of a day. This saves you the hassle of what to do with the bike when you get there.

I did Kon Tum - Attepeu in a truck last year and it was only 3.5 hours, so maybe count on 5 in a bus - the road was good then both sides of the border.

There are no motorbikes with guides for hire in attepeu - it is a mainly vietnamese dominated town with not much to offer the traveller apart from a few riverside restaurants. I would leave as soon as you can rather than pausing here.

I do not know of a direct bus attepeu - tad lo so you might have to go into pakse and out again - you only double back about 20km to the tad lo/saravan road turn off. You may be better off getting a bus straight into pakse from attepeu anyway, and renting a motorbike, then doing your Pakse-tad lo - tad fan - pakse loop that way - save a lot of time waiting for buses and more flexibility too. Many of the attractions (waterfalls etc) are off the main road so buses won't be very helpful here.

You can get a visa at Bo Y, but there are very limited onward transport options from here - it was deserted when I was there.

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