Ok. It’s officially time to get off our lazy butts and do something awesome. But, something that still requires sitting on our butts.
The Bolaven Plateau in Laos is a gorgeous region of mountains, coffee plantations, and many traditional local villages. The area can be seen as a day tour by car, but the more adventurous folks have the option of going independently via motorbike. There are many ways to do the road trip, but it’s best to dedicate 2-3 days to the region. Most people get started in the humble town of Pakse. Despite being the capital of the southern province and the third largest city in all of Laos, Pakse feels like a sleepy little town. A lazy pace and chilled out vibe permeate the city despite the tons of coffee pulsing through its viens.
Armed with our moto, a map, and the anticipation of some seriously good coffee, we departed. Almost. We woke up to a flat tire on our “new; very new. no worry of tire problems” motorbike. Starting our first day off with a new-NEW motorbike (“Shug”, short for “Sugar Glider” when we were encouraging her to not fall over in sandy terrain), we started navigating the dusty, traffic-choked roads out-of-town and up to the plateau.
Passing many friendly local children waving, and watching the mountains creep closer and closer, we started to feel the home-like hug of the mountains wrap its arms around us.
Successful coffee growing requires land that enjoys frequent watering and rich soil. Since the region is situation atop a plateau, that rainfall presents many opportunities for waterfalls in the area. There are more road signs pointing you to these natural beauties than there are directions to the towns themselves.
Our first coffee stop was the highly recommended Mr. Vieng’s in Katu. This textile village was small, but happy – quite similar to everywhere we visited in Laos. Mr. Vieng greeted us with to cups of the freshest coffee I’ve ever had. We were sitting downstairs at his home; his yard was the coffee plantation he owned and worked.
The beans were grown here, roasted by him, ground in front of us, and drank in utter and complete bliss.
While we were officially hopped up on caffeinated, Mr. “THE MAN” Vieng took us for a little tour around his coffee plantation. He identified the organic coffee plants by showing us which ones the fire ants were crawling all over. He stuck his hand in the swarm, then calmly placed it in his mouth. He proceed to chew and explain that the ants are an edible entity. Not one that we really wanted to try, however.
There’s no sitting still after a cup of Mr. Vieng’s iced coffee, so after our tour of the plantation we took a stroll through town.
We enjoyed our day with Mr. Vieng and his family so much that we decided to spend the night with them in their home. They welcomed us gladly, and we felt so very much at home. Mr. Vieng’s wife and daughter rode to the market to pick up some items for dinner, and cooked us a delicious and wonderfully generous meal.
Exhaustion and full bellies overruled our caffeine high and we surrendered to sleep, dreams of tearing up the dirt roads on our bike dancing in our heads.
We woke early and after yet even more heavenly coffee, we had to tear ourselves away from Mr. Vieng and his family in favor of the road.
On to Tad Lo, the most raved about town in our motorbike loop. The journey was short from Katu, but even an hour on a motorbike can leave you aching. Arrival was a joyous occasion, as it meant getting your butt off the bike seat, and getting yourself yet another astonishingly amazing coffee.
Elephant tourism is a big ethical issue in Southeast Asia. While using elephants for logging has been largely outlawed, it is still technically legal here in Laos. Many organizations exist to remove these elephants from their terrible fate of a life of forced labor. However, instead of being released in the wild (where they may not be able to survive due to their captive lives and dwindling habitat) they often get relocated into tourist organizations.
While these companies are certainly better than logging outfits, they are not always ethical and the elephants usually could be treated better. Things like elephant riding chairs, and being chained up at night all the way from working with tourists all day and not having the time to eat enough, there are many things about this situations that make them poor organizations to support.
One of these tourist “elephant riding” organizations calls Tab Lo its home. We didn’t want to support it by spending our money to make the elephants carry us around in uncomfortable chairs. But, we caught rumor that every day in the late afternoon, the elephants go to the calm waters above the Tad Lo waterfall and bathe at their will. So, we snuck up there to watch them enjoy their freedom and play together. It has its sad moments, but it’s quite wonderful to watch them be so happy together.
The Mahouts (elephant trainers) were gentle with the enormous creatures, and allowed them to play for about an hour in the open water. A few people were there observing; but no one interacted. The sight was a joyful one, even knowing their past (and their current daytime present) isn’t and ideal one for the natural elephant.
We left them, amazed by their size and grace, mystified by the oddness of their physicality, and saddened by their captivity.
We returned to our guesthouse, and having drinks with some locals, learned that there was a celebration going on in Tad Lo on this particular evening! The more we looked around, the more we saw that the locals were starting the celebration early. Motorbikes were swerving in the streets and karaoke music was pulsing everywhere. That evening, we started searching for the big party. We walked through town, through the woods, and all was so quite for so long that we worried for a moment we were being led into a trap. But then, we heard the base growing louder, and this appeared in between the trees:
coupled with this rowdy scene…
The night went on an endless time, and we somehow woke up in our dorm room. Which was immediately followed by this crazy good banana pancake, from Mamapap’s, an excellent little guesthouse.
Fueled up, and slept in, we saddled up the motorbike again, and took off for day 3 of our tour. A very lovely Valentine’s Day treated us with beautiful scenery, some wonderful coffee, and quite the adventure.
Our final evening’s goal was a tough motorbike ride away. After getting turned around again and again in the city of Paksong, we eventually left the paved roads behind. Many hilly dirt roads covered with deep, loose, dry dust were our path for many kilometers. Just when we thought we were close, we came upon a cluster of signs pointing many different directions. BUT! Not one that showed the name of the guesthouse we were aiming for.
Simply following our gut we ventured on. We passed other motorbikers who were crashing in the poor roads, struggling to drive through the slippery dirt. Onward, until we finally came upon our lovely homestay.
We bathed in the frigid river water, which was a nice reprieve from the intense heat of the past 3 days. I mean, sometimes, you’ve just got to do something about those feet…
We awoke for our 4th day, our brains feeling rested, our bodies feeling beat up and sore. After watching these being cooked alive on the fire while we awaited breakfast, we decided an early start was a good idea for the day.
A shower, clean clothes, and a comfy bed were just the ticket when we arrived back in Pakse.
Do It Yourself:
1. Get to Pakse and enjoy a cup of coffee anywhere. It’s not just brain fuel. It’s inspiration to explore the beautiful region where it’s grown.
2. Get a map at Miss Noy’s (can’t miss it on the main road.) You can rent a bike here too, but get there early because there’s not always enough bikes to meet demand. (We got Shug at a Guesthouse around the corner and it was cheaper and brand new.)
3. Gather around the French dude at Miss Noy’s and get some insider info from the expert expats on the roads, and things to not miss while on the road.
4. When planning your itinerary, keep in mind the distances and be realistic about how long you can sit on a bike. It really helped us to take coffee and sight-seeing breaks along the way.
5. Gas up & caffeine up, and ride away into the sunset like a total badass!