No, I do not recommend it. This journey is not suitable for under-18s or over-18s. Not recommended for adults, children or the elderly. Do not shake or mix. The eleven straight hours on a bus is the least of it — the real torture is suffering the same Lao karaoke video on loop at full blast for the entire duration!
Over and over again. The same songs sung by the same singers… in Lao for a Lao audience… FOR ELEVEN HOURS.
In the video you could see the stage — and on many occasions there were barely four people watching. It seems it didn't sound any better to the locals either.
At every stop vendors would climb aboard offering chicken, eggs, snacks, drinks...
During the journey, having nothing better to do, I started reading an Iain M. Banks novel called The Player of Games — and by the time we arrived at our destination I'd nearly finished it.
And once in Tha Khaek, exactly what we'd expected happened: we'd just rolled into another transit town in the style of Pakse. Or worse.
A town with nothing going for it. Don't let certain guidebooks spin you some line like "The heart of Tha Khaek is its central fountain, surrounded by exquisite French and Chinese architecture, creating a special and attractive blend."
The biggest draw I could find in any guide was a bakery — which turned out to have closed, moved or gone into hiding, because we couldn't find it anywhere.
Don't let anyone sell you this one. In Tha Khaek there is nothing to do beyond catching another bus or renting a motorbike to explore the surroundings.
The only highlight we found was by the Mekong: a night-time pancake stall...
And a beautiful dusk with Thailand visible on the other side of the Mekong
And that is exactly what we did. After a couple of nights recovering and trying to find something of interest in this town whose name I'd rather not repeat, we decided to throw our meagre budget to the wind and rent a motorbike to do The Loop.
The Loop is a circular route through central Laos, visiting countless small villages, caves and waterfalls while enjoying the ride along mountain roads and trails strewn with rocks and potholes.
The Loop is the circuit we completed over the following four days — days in which we both loved and suffered the riding through Laos's most inhospitable terrain. Adventures and experiences of every kind, which I'll be writing about over the coming days. If you're planning to do it yourself, check out my tips for the central Laos Loop.
