Bolaven Plateau I: Chasing Waterfalls

It was a beautiful sunrise once I managed to pry my eyes open in the sleeper bus rolling into Pakse. The rest of the day was thoroughly uneventful day filled with errands and planning. I had hoped to do the Ta Ong trail but it was prohibitively expensive to go alone and no one had signed up for it. A bit disappointed, I decided to spend the next two days exploring the Bolaven Plateau on a motorbike. The next morning I mounted my not-so-mighty 100cc metal steed and took off. My 2 day 1 night route would essentially go from waterfall to waterfall. Pakse to overnight in Tad Lo then down to Paksong and back to Pakse. I had a map and a general idea of where I was headed.

Pha Suam

Once I turned off the main highway 13 onto a small highway leading to the first waterfall, Pha Suam and then further to Tad Lo, it was a relaxing, easy drive. The road was lined with stilted houses, walls of sunflowers, waving children, staring adults, and indifferent goats. It was intersected by dozens of small streams, yellow suicidal butterflies, chickens, and even one, large, weasel-like rodent. In the distance, mountains loomed. And did I mention waterfalls? I arrived in Tat Lo by 11:30 and lunched while staring at the wide Tat Hong waterfall.

Eager to make my load lighter, I checked into Tim's Guesthouse and got directions and suggestions from the owner who's English, just as the Lonely Planet promised, was perfect.



He showed me a map of the area and I took off to find Tad Lo. I found a trail headed up and took it which led me to an elephant! I continued up trails, hopping over elephant dung and found one beautiful waterfall. Hoping to find the clearest view of the falls, I kept trying to find a way onto a clearing down below but I kept coming across ladders.

1st ladder: Sketch. Rungs look insecure. Missing a rung or two.

2nd ladder: Even sketchier. Missing 3 or 4 rungs.

3rd ladder: Really just 2 parallel sticks with the occasional sparse rung. More rungs missing or broken than appearing functional on the ladder.

Then, I came to it: the money spot.

I returned to my guesthouse to grab the bike to head to the fourth and last waterfall of the day, Tat Suong. I passed a series of almond groves on the road which eventually, according to the Lonely Planet, dead-ended to another road. There one was instructed to turn left into a parking lot looking out over the top of the falls. I say according to the Lonely Planet because I didn't go that way. I had left the guidebook at home. So when kids along the road started shouting at me, I figured I'd follow them. I was led by two industrious boys into a little village where I left my bike.
Then it was a hike through rice patties, hopping on rocks over streams and over boulders for about 10 minutes until we reached the bottom of the falls.

They showed me the prime spot to swim and I decided it was best to swim in my sarong rather than my bikini. I proceded to do a funny little dance trying to get out of my clothes while wrapped in my sarong. While I struggled, a small hoard of boys came and joined us, most stripping down to their birthday suits and then immediately jumping from high boulders. Seriously, this is the life. We swam around for about 20 minutes, splashing around and jumping into the water until I decided it was time for me to go. That apparently meant that everyone was to pack up. When we got to the village, I gave the two boys the Big Brother Mouse books that I had picked up in Luang Prabang. I drove away feeling like the day had been a grand success.