Runs through the jungle and along the  Ho Chi Minh Trail

Introduction:

Basing out of Pakse we are able to run several great tracks and loop back to Pakse without a lot of backtracking.  Highlights of the trip include Champasak, Dong Det Island, a beautiful jungle ride, war vestiges from the Indochina Wars, riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, boat rides and waterfalls – a pretty packed trip and the riding is excellent!

Brief Itinerary:
Day 1: Pakse - Champasak - Khone Phapheng  - Dong Det
Day 2: Dong Det – Attepue
Day 3: Attepue – Nong Fa Lake – Attapeu
Day 4: Attapeu – Ta Oi
Day 5: Ta Oi – Moung Phin
Day 6: Moung Phin – Tadlo Eco Resort
Day 7: Tadlo – Pakse

Day to Day Itinerary:

Day 1:  Pakse - Champasak - Khone Phapheng  - Dong Det

We meet the night before and get a little familiar with the bikes and each other so today we can start the ride at 08:00 after breakfast at the hotel.  We ride slowly on the first morning and make our way to Wat Phou, a pre-Angkor site. We continue along across the Mekong and turn south to the Cambodian border and Khone Phapheng Waterfalls.  Our destination is Dong Det, a smaller island in the small delta on the border.

Day :  Dong Det – Attepue

Back to the highway and we should arrive in Kingfisher Lodge for a short Elephant Ride before lunch.  After lunch at the Lodge we take on road 18 and its many water crossings.  It’s a beautiful ride through a canopy forested road and we arrive in Attapeu, enjoy a cool drink along the Sekong River and overnight in town.

Day 3:  Attepue – Nong Fa Lake – Attapeu

We depart light as we’ll be back tonight at the same hotel.  We take the main highway east to the Vietnamese border but before getting too close we go through the Dong Amphan Protected Area to Nong Fa Lake.  Lunch lakeside and we’re back to Attepue and make a few stops along the way at a former CIA listening post and in Paam, we’ll mount up on a SAM II missile left over by the Vietnamese Army, disarmed of course.  We return to Attapeu for a sunset ride back into town.

Day 4:  Attapeu – Ta Oi

We depart and ride the paved highway along the Bolivan Plateau Ridgeline and then to our lunch stop in Salavan.  From Salavan we continue on to Ta Oi, it’s not far but the road conditions change with the seasons and we’ll try to arrive in this sleepy town well before sunset.

Day 5: Ta Oi – Moung Phin

Getting going early, we traverse a few obstacles and some somewhat difficult short runs but this is the Ho Chi Minh Trail and it was more difficult back in the day.  We’ve a river to cross and today’s ride will be the most remote of the trip so far. We arrive to the north near Ban Dong were a fierce protracted battle between Vietnamese forces and Lao/US happened called Operation Lam Son 719.  There is a small museum being put together with some war relics.  We meet the pavement and head down to Moung Phin for the night.

 
Day 6: Moung Phin – Tadlo Eco Resort

Morning finds us riding down an all weather dirt road to a bombed out bridge at Tad Hai.  We cross very carefully in boats with the bikes laid on their sides and then navigate about 40 km of heavy jungle.  We come across some small remote villages and track along a dusty road to Salavan.  We should arrive in Tadlo Eco Resort mid afternoon for a cool swim to wash away the dust.

Day 7: Tadlo – Pakse

Departing at an easy pace, we take a small side road to Paksong and make a few photo stops in the Bolivan Plateau, home to Lao’s coffee and tea plantations.  We should arrive in Pakse before 14:00 for well deserved massage and a western meal before our last night of swapping photos and enjoying a few beers along the Mekong.

Note on accommodation and services – Some locations we stay overnight are somewhat limited on services but we stay and eat at the best possible places.  All locations have been scouted by Remote Asia staff several times for quality and service.  A guest commented on an overnight stay to his friends at home he “was in a No Star Hotel but it was great to sit on the terrace and watch the cows wander around the town like they owned the place”.  Every hotel will have a comfortable bed and hot water for showers.  Meals will be large and keep your energy levels up for the day’s rides.