Bolaven Plateau Loop, Laos: The ultimate guide and itinerary

We drove the Bolaven Plateau loop first hand at the beginning of 2024, so all the information in this article is valid as of January 2024. Please be aware that things in Asia can change quickly so if anyone finds conflicting information, please leave a comment.

Laos is often underrated or not included in peoples SE Asia travelling itineraries. But the Bolaven plateau loop (often called the Pakse loop), along with the Thakhek loop, are the some of most thrilling and adventurous motorbike rides in the whole region of SE Asia. This guide contains everything you need to know if you’re planning to undertake this adventure yourself. This includes where to rent the bike (or car if you prefer), where to stay, what to see, where to eat and importantly, how much it should all cost.

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Getting to Pakse

You will probably be following the traveller trail north from Cambodia, or the 4000 Islands, or south from Thakhek. It’s also possible to pass directly into Laos at Pakse from Thailand from Ubon Ratchathani over the Thai – Laos friendship bridge.

Cheapest way to get to Pakse

As is usually the case in Laos and other SE Asian countries, the bus terminals to travel long distances are usually 5-10km outside of the cities, so you can either pay an inflated ticket price from a tourist office in the centre, and be shuttled to the bus station before your trip, or take a risk and hire a taxi or tuk-tuk to the bus terminal yourself to buy the ticket in person. 

Buying in person is always the cheapest option, often by a large margin, just be aware that finding up-to-date information about the bus timetables isn’t always the easiest. We bought our bus ticket from Thakhek to Pakse for around €6 directly from the bus station and organised our own tuk-tuk to the bus station. This worked out to be around half the price of buying the bus ticket from one of the tourist offices in central Thakhek, so if you really need to save money, this is the way to do it.

We should stress though this local bus trip is also probably the slowest and one of the least comfortable ways to get to Pakse at a backbreaking 9 hours, but makes for a very interesting experience 😅. The bus was full of locals and at every stop vendors would get on board to sell snacks and drinks. We spent the day gazing out to the window into the Laotian countryside, local villages and farms. We just wish there were more bathroom breaks! (be warned)

When booking train and bus tickets abroad, we always use 12go.asia. You can check timetables and prices online and it’s often cheaper than booking in person! Check our 12go.asia here.

From 4000 Islands

Local buses depart daily from Si Pha Don to Pakse Southern Bus Terminal. A ferry ticket from most islands costs between 15-30k kip, or €0.75-€1.5, then the bus ticket will set you back 40-50k kip, or €2-€3 and takes around 3 hours. When you arrive at the bus terminal in Pakse you can take a Songthaew to Pakse centre for 40k kip.

The alternative to this is to book one of the organised tourist minibuses through a travel agent on one of the islands. These include a ferry ticket and are more comfortable than the local buses, but expect to pay 150k kip or €7.50 for the entire trip. Check ticket prices.

From Thakhek

Buses to Pakse from Thakhek depart daily from the Inter Provincial Bus Terminal. The cheapest options are always the local buses; expect to pay around €6 for a 9 hour journey. When arriving in Pakse, you will be dumped out of the bus at the Pakse Northern Bus Terminal, about 10km outside of the main part of Pakse town. Sadly your only option here is to take a tuk-tuk to the centre, just make sure you haggle with the drivers to ensure you get a good deal. The going rate seems to be 100k kip / €5 per person at the time of writing this article. Try grouping with other people that get off your bus to bring the price down.

Sleeper buses are also available and more comfortable private minivans catered for tourists coming from either direction, but expect to pay much higher prices than the local buses, and in our opinion aren’t half as fun. Check ticket prices.

Cheapest places to stay in Pakse

As budget travellers we usually gravitate towards hostels, but there are a number of cheap and cheerful accommodations in Pakse that won’t break the bank.

We stayed in 1918s Hostel for a few nights before driving the loop. They have very large and spacious dorm rooms, and each bunk has lights, curtains and power sockets. The rooms also have very good air conditioning. You can rent a locker here also to store your belongings in whilst you drive the Bolaven plateau loop for a small daily charge.

For private rooms there are many cheap guesthouses in Pakse where a double or twin room can be found for as little as €7.5 per night. We liked DD Guesthouse and the Heaven Guesthouse.

Cheapest places to eat in Pakse

Pakse has a number of food offerings for the budget conscious traveller. The place we visited the most in our time in Pakse was Sabaidee Pakse Restaurant. The menu is vast and there are a number of options that will suit everyone around €1-€3. We recommend the sweet and sour tofu!

Pakse also has a large number of market stalls and street vendors, so if you’re really on a budget these are probably the best places to go to.

Note: It’s often best to ask for prices before ordering any food to avoid any surprises. Sometimes the price presented on the menu at night markets is not the price you’ll be asked for after eating. Best to check beforehand with the stall owner explicitly.

Where to rent a motorbike for cheap in Pakse

There are 3 motorbike rental offices in Pakse at the time of writing this article. Prices range from €5 to €15 euros per day depending on the power, speed and gearbox (manual / automatic). The cheapest place we found to rent a motorbike in Pakse is Miss Noy Motorbike Rental. We paid 150k kip, or €7.5 per day to rent our Honda Click 125cc automatic motorbike (pictured below). They also had semi-automatic bikes for rent for just 80k kip / €4 per day, but sadly they had sold out by the time we arrived. Our bike was relatively new having only done around 10,000km and we were supplied with good quality helmets to wear for the duration of the loop.

Travel insurance is a must for any holiday abroad, especially when doing extreme activities. Although problems rarely occur, it is better to be covered in case they do. We use SafetyWing and recommend it to anyone travelling the world. Check out SafteyWing here.

Note: Technically you should have an international drivers permit to rent a motorbike in Laos, but we were not asked for ours at the point of booking, nor did we run into any police for the entirety of the Loop. But reader beware: if you have the chance to get one for peace of mind before your trip, it’s probably best to do so!

As is usually the case, you can leave bigger bags with the rental company whilst you drive the loop, and when we returned all of our luggage was untouched and in one piece. There is also a branch of Wang Wang motorbike rental here, who also have an office in Thakhek (we rented a motorbike from them in Thakhek to drive the Thakhek loop, read more about that here).

List of motorbike rental shops in Pakse

• Miss Noy Motorbike Rental
• Wang Wang Bike Rental
• Lao Go Car and Motorbike Rental
  • We found this place to be extortionately expensive so we steered well clear, but they also offer car rental so if  you wanted to go down that route, it might be a good option.

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Guide to driving the Bolaven Plateau Loop

Bolaven Plateau Loop: An interactive map

The big or small loop? Which one to take.

The Bolaven plateau loop can be done in 2 different ways. The small loop is just 200 km long and can be completed in 2 days and 1 night, and the big loop takes 4 to 5 days and is 320 km long. 

In our opinion the best attractions, mainly the coffee plantations and the most impressive waterfalls, are included in the small loop. So if you are time or budget limited the small loop is adequate to see the main things to see. If you have more time to spend, and want to take a more leisurely route, see more remote villages and spend more time in each place, the large loop is the one to go for.

Where to stay overnight? Cheapest homestays on the Bolaven Plateau loop.

We stayed at Captain Hook Homestay and Coffee Plantation on our night on the Bolaven Loop. When we arrived we were greeted by about 50 locals all dancing and drinking, and quickly found out there was a party in town that evening. The locals speak their own language and are part of the Katu tribe, an ethnic tribe that stretches from Southern Laos to Northern Vietnam. The local Katu people celebrate the new year shortly after the rice harvest, which happened to be when we arrived in town. Captain Hook, who runs the homestay, told us it would be noisy staying that night because the music continues into the early hours of the morning, and tours of the coffee plantation weren’t running that day because of the party, but it sounded like too big an opportunity to miss, partying with the locals.

The homestay is very basic, like much of the town it is in. It lacks any of the modern conveniences such as heated water and indoor showers, but it was an incredible experience to spend time with the locals and learn about their daily life. For 120k kip for the room, it included both dinner and breakfast the next day, and unlimited local coffee, grown and roasted in the village and ground up in a pestle and mortar. This was served to us in bamboo mugs! It was an incredible experience and we can’t recommend Captain Hooks Homestay enough!

What to see on the Bolaven Plateau loop?

Waterfalls, Waterfalls and more Waterfalls

The highlight waterfall that you see in everyone’s pictures of the Bolaven Plateau loop is Tad Fane, and it really is as impressive as everybody makes out. But other than this one there are many other waterfalls to see along both the small and large loops. See the map above for the full list but some standout ones are; Tad Fane (pictured below), Tad Hang where you can see an elephant bathing every day around sunset time, and Tad Champee.

Coffee plantations galore

The coffee plantations are what sold us on this loop, as avid coffee drinkers. We tried some really incredible coffee from a few different plantations, and some offer guided tours and teach you about the harvest and roasting process. It really is fascinating to see the process from plant to finished cup of coffee. One we liked the most was Mr Vieng Coffee Homestay who not only has great coffee and guided tours, but also offers overnight homestays in the plantation.

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Bolaven Plateau Loop – full cost on a budget

We drove the loop at the start of 2023, and this cost breakdown is for 2 people sharing 1 motorbike, and sharing a bedroom each night, so solo travellers can expect to add 50% to the total cost.

• Motorbike Rental 150k kip x 3 days = 450 kip / €24 euros
• Gasoline 30k kip x 3 days = 90k kip / €5 euros

Pakse to Captain Hook Homestay – Day 1

• Breakfast included in our stay at 1918s Hostel – free
• Coffee Tasting and Tour @ Mr Vieng Coffee Homestay 40k kip per person = 80k kip / €4.20 euros
• Lunch 40k kip per person = 80k kip / €4.20 euros
• Waterfall Visit – free
• Night at Captain Hook Homestay (inc Dinner & Breakfast) – 120k kip for a double room / €6.30 euros

Captain Hook Homestay to Alisa Guesthouse – Day 2

• Breakfast included in our stay at Captain Cook – free
• Tad Fane 20k kip per person + 5k kip parking = 45k kip / €2.40 euros
• Lunch 40k kip per person = 80k kip / €4.20 euros
• Coffee Plantation Tour / Tasting 40k kip per person = 80k kip / €4.20 euros
• Dinner 50k kip per person = 100k kip / €5.25 euros
• Night in Alisa Guesthouse in Pakse 150k kip / €7.90 euros

Day 3

• Return to Pakse to return the bike

Total cost = €67.65 euros or €33.82 euros per person. 

	Euros	British Pounds	US Dollars
Total	€67.65	£58.80	$72.59
Per person	€33.82	£29.40	$36.30
Per person / Per day	€11.27	£9.80	$12.10

That’s an average cost of €11 euros per person per day. This price will increase depending on the amount of sights you see, how much you budget for food, as well as snacks and coffee breaks etc. But as you can see, you can ride the Bolaven Plateau Loop for very cheap!

When spending money abroad we always use our WISE international debit card. You can withdraw up to 200 euros in cash per month free of charge and won’t pay any conversion fees on transactions. Check out the WISE international debit card here.

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Safety, Concerns and Useful Information

• The best time to drive the loop is the dry season in Laos, which runs from November to March. 
• When picking up your bike, especially during peak times of the year, get to the rental shop as soon as it opens. This is usually around 9am. Otherwise you can be caught out with no bikes left to rent, or just the more expensive ones.
• The small loop can be completed in just 2 days and 1 night, but if you want to avoid longer drives you can stretch this to 3 days.
• Because of the searing Laotion sun, you should bring sunscreen and apply liberally. Due to the wind it can be hard to tell on the bike when you’re getting sunburn. Bring mosquito repellant for the evenings.
• Don’t forget your swimsuit for the waterfalls!
• When you find a gas station, it’s advisable to fill up the tank to full. There are large stretches of the loop without regular gas stations.
• Bikes can be stolen if left unattended overnight, in easily accessible places. We recommend using the wheel lock at all times when not using the bike (you should be provided one by the rental company) and parking within the confines of your homestay overnight.
• Travel insurance is a must for any motorbike rentals abroad, especially in south east asia. Although problems rarely arise, you want to be covered in the case that they do. We use SafetyWing and recommend it for anyone travelling around the world.
• When spending money abroad we use the WISE international debit card. You can withdraw up to 200 euros in cash per month free of charge. After that, you only pay a very low withdrawal fee.
• If you don’t have your accommodation booked make sure you arrive at your intended homestay as early as possible, as place book up quickly on the loop in the evenings. Best to book before you arrive to avoid any issues!

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Bolaven Plateau Loop or the Thakhek Loop: Which is best?

This is a tricky question as both loops in Laos have a lot to offer. If you’re travelling through Laos and have time to do both, you should; You can decide for yourself which one is best.

For us personally, we preferred the scenery and pace of the Thakhek loop more, and Konglor cave really isn’t to be missed. The Bolaven plateau loop was great and filled with breathtaking waterfalls and coffee plantations to visit, but the scenery along the roadside was more impressive for the Thakhek loop.

If you think otherwise then leave us a comment below; we’re interested to hear what you think on the matter. Check out our complete guide to the Thakhek Loop here.