Tat Fan and Tat Lo | Laos - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:39:05 +0000

Hi,
My husband and I are looking to spend a few days on motorbike from Pakse. We aren't sure which way to go or how much time it will take on motorbike, tho. We are thinking of going Pakse to Tat Lo the first day (we have to leave Pakse mid-day), staying overnight in Tat Lo and then going the next day through Paksong to Tat Fan. We were then going to spend the night in Tat Fan and leave early the next morning to make a flight out of Pakse for 10:30 AM.

So...does this sound reasonable to do on a motorbike in this time. (ie: how long does it take to go Pakse to Tat Lo, Tat Lo to Tat Fan, and Tat Fan back to Pakse)?

Thank you!

ONLINE

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:25:12 +0000

We did a three day loop around the Bolaven Plateau earlier this year. The drive from Pakse to Tad Lo is really quite short -- could easily go there and back as a day trip. We left around noon, drove to Tad Paxuam (a waterfall on the road before Tad Lo), stayed a bit, then continued onto Tad Lo. There we relaxed, had lunch, hiked around... and still had time to get back on the bike and drive to Salavan (NE of Tad Lo). It's a nice little town w/a great market. All in all, I think we drove three hours, and the roads were all very good.

The second day, we drove south, back towards Tad Lo (but not that far), and took the road going south. This road wasn't as great, but it didn't last that long, and then we were back on a nicely paved road. However, the scenery was gorgeous here and we drove through many tiny little villages. We stopped in Sekong and tried (unsuccessfully) to get some lunch. From there, we continued south, stopping at waterfalls along the way, and drove to Attepeau. If you only wanted to do two days, you could turn west after Sekong and head back towards Pakse, but I think it would make for a very long day of driving. As it was, I think we spent about five hours getting from Salavan to Attepeau. We both really loved Attepeau -- it was such a lovely town, set on the banks of the river.

The third day, we drove north and then west, back towards Pakse. Once we turned west, we were pretty much by ourselves until we were 20 kms from Paksong (that's a long way) -- hardly any other traffic on the road at all. We stopped at numerous waterfalls (kind of amazing to be there by yourself at these waterfalls that suddenly emerge from the middle of nowhere in the forest -- stunning) between the turnoff and Paksong. The road wasn't great, and at one point it was primarily thick clay dust, but closer to Paksong, it was once again paved and an easy ride. Tad Fane and Tad Yuang are within a short distance of one another, and are both gorgeous -- they're also really close to Pakse, so by the time you get there, you're in the homestretch. From Attepeau to Pakse, including numerous stops was about seven hours, I think.

Hope this helps -- enjoy -- it's a lovely area!