South Laos
The journey into the south of Laos began with a small adventure. All day long we were in a bus from Hue in Vietnam to Savannakhet in Laos. The bus did double duty as a truck, and it was loaded to the brim with cargo. Everything, including the empty seats, the corridor and the space normally reserved for your feet was packed with boxes of vegetables, bags of rice and who knows what more. Therefore the bus crawled along the highway, and near the end it gave up and had a breakdown. Of course no one spoke English or could explain anything. After waiting for a couple of hours, a tuk-tuk with a sense of business came by and picked us up. Spending two hours in a tuk-tuk, at night, at high speed is a dubious pleasure, but still better than spending the night in the bus.
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Boxes of carrots 
One of the drivers, sleeping on the cargo 
Waiting for a miracle 
And again Asian Yeltsin 🙂
We arrived in Savannakhet at about 22h, and began to look for a place to spend the night. We were lucky to be helped by a local, Sangthong Hangponsavane (next to us in the photo), who invited us for a drink and dinner, and then his friend Keovichith Khaykhamphithounh , drove us to the hotel. The names here are even longer than in Russia 🙂
An attraction that’s gaining in popularity is the Bolaven Plateau loop. This is where we were headed first. The height of the plateau varies between 1000 and 1350 meters above sea level. The plateau is crossed by many rivers, with many picturesque waterfalls.
We started in the city of Pakse and did the loop on a scooter in 4 days and 3 nights. This is a trip for tourists that like to go off the beaten track. We had a lot of fun on our 4-day escape from civilization 🙂
First day. Pakse to Tad Lo waterfall
The roads on the first day were rather boring, but the main reason to come here are the waterfalls on the road. For the night we stopped in the village around Tad Lo. A very calm and nice place, but the most interesting part was still ahead of us.
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Without cats life is not the same! 
We found a real French bakery in Pakse!!! 
Ah roads of Laos, we meet again. 
Tad Phasoum waterfall 
Tad Lo waterfall 
Our “5-star bungalow” in Tad Lo 
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Second day: Tad Lo to Tad Tayicsuea
This is definitely the most beautiful part of the journey. The road becomes less crowded, the plains are replaced by hills with dense forests, here we can enjoy the smell of freedom and enjoy the complete lack of internet.
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This is a dried-up waterfall,
after the construction of a dam nearby there was only a trickle left
On top of the dry waterfall 
It’s hard to imagine that until recently, water was flowing here 
Beer Lao – the one and only beer in Laos!
3rd day: New Year’s Eve at Tad Tayicsuea
We spent new year’s eve at Tayicsuea Lodge. It was the most unforgettable and warm 31st December of our lives! 🙂 We finished the year with an active foot trek through the jungle and the rocky beds of a mountain river, while passing the most beautiful waterfalls of the loop. We were especially smitten by the Tad Jarou Halang waterfall. It looked like something straight out of Avatar. And, also important, not a soul in sight, you are completely alone. It’s difficult to describe the beauty, have a look for yourself: (Unfortunately no drone flying here – a lot of water in the air from the splash of the waterfall!)
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Our Christmas tree at the lodge 🙂 
Beware of poisonous snakes! 
You can see the ‘Avatar’ waterfall behind the trees 
No comment… 
Coffee beans drying in the sun. There are a lot of coffee plantations on the plateau. 
Birds-eye view 
You can see the ‘Avatar’ waterfall off to the right in the distance 
Like finding water on Mars 
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4th day: Tayicsuea – Paksong – Pakse
Ow yeah! A new year!
On January 1st we woke up early (!) and immediately jumped on the scooter to finish the loop.
Waterfall Tad Katomtok 
“Погода была прекрасная, принцесса была…”
тоже такая же)))
Happy New Year!!! 
Tad Fane 
Monks taking a picture behind the waterfall for their Instagram profile 
Who’s that man?
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After Pakse, we went further south to Si Phan Don, or the “4000 islands”. I don’t know if they counted, but there’s a lot of them, mostly small of course. We spent a few days on the island of Don Det. There is nothing to do, and that’s exactly why you should go there 🙂
Laos – Please Don’t Rush 
4000 islands 
Life here is quite basic 
Water buffaloes enjoying their afternoon 
Rescuing a capsized boat 
We got tired of doing nothing and drove a bike to the other island, Don Khone 
Fishermen without fear 
Around the 4000 islands is the widest set of waterfalls in the world, the Khon waterfalls. The total length of waterfalls is 9.7km, the total width including islands: 10km! These waterfalls are the main reason why the Mekong cannot be traversed from China all the way to Vietnam.
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