Pakse Loop Guide – Overview

The Pakse loop, also known as the Bolaven Plateau loop, is a popular motorbike look in southern Laos.

The Pakse loop exists in two variants – short and long. This Pakse loop guide covers the long loop, but that also includes all of the waterfalls from the short loop as well.

I did the Pakse loop in February, before taking off I tried to research some of the waterfalls and found a lot of information about them was just generic “oh this exists but we didn’t go” type of content.

When I did the loop I visitied 21 named waterfalls. I wanted to document them all for this Pakse loop guide, to give proper advice on what’s good and what isn’t.

The Pakse loop is not even the most well-known motorbike loop in Laos, that would be the Thakhek Loop which you can read about here.

If you like motorbike loops then you can also check out this post about the Ha Giang loop (plus I go further to Ban Gioc falls).

This is where Pakse is – in southern Laos.

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Pakse Loop Guide Video

The Pakse loop is full of waterfalls, to write about each waterfall that I visited at length would make the Pakse loop guide unreadable. To upload a photo of each waterfall would make this page load too slowly (although I’ve still got heaps of phtos).

For more detailed information see the video. Any questions then feel free to comment on the video as I don’t really check comments on this website.

[VIDEO SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE ON YOUTUBE CHANNEL ON THE 4TH OF JULY AND WILL BE LINKED HERE SHORTLY AFTER]

What Is The Pakse Loop?

The Pakse Loop is a multi-day motorbike route through southern Laos.

The trip starts and ends in Pakse, which sits just to the south west of the Bolaven Plateau. Taking off from Pakse you will head clockwise around the loop if you do it the way most people do.

There won’t be any huge caves like Kong Lor or Tham Heup here, it’s all about the waterfalls on the Pakse loop. With the Bolaven Plateau being elevated, there is water runoff and rivers all around the plateau for you to go explore.

Tad Lo River.

Shot on the DJI Mini 5 Pro (Amazon).

How Many Days Do You Need For The Pakse Loop?

The answer for the big loop is usually 4 days / 3 nights while the small loop can be done in as little as 1 night, but 2 is common.

I did the big loop and then I added another day afterwards to ride out to Champasak to visit Vat Phou temple, an ancient Khmer temple on a hillside about 1 hour out of Pakse.

You can see all of the waterfalls listed below on this handy map which can be found online and is basically the same as the paper ones that get handed to you at the motorbike rental shops. You can refer back to this throughout the post.

Where Do You Ride Each Day?

Cycle through the images below – in order they show you the typical ride for days 1 through 4.

If you were doing the small loop, day 1 is the same, then day 2 you head straight south towards Paksong instead of east towards Tad Faek Falls and Houay Kong.

You can see that on days 3 and 4 there isn’t much riding involved, but that’s because these days involve some of the best waterfalls you’ll see and they can still be pretty busy days on the Pakse loop.

Pakse Loop Guide – Itinerary

In this section of the Pakse Loop guide I will show you what I did with each day, give a brief rundown of the highlights of the days and tell you whether I recommend the waterfalls or not.

If I say I don’t recommend something, it’s not that it’s not worth doing necessarily, but it isn’t a must-see. If you have the time then feel free to check out all of the waterfalls.

Day 1 – Pakse to Tad Lo

The first day of the Pakse loop is a day that can either be really busy or quite relaxed. For me it was really busy, but that was mostly because I wanted to see all of the waterfalls to document them for the video and this Pakse loop guide.

I think you can do it a bit quicker than I did and use the time to enjoy the final stop, Tad Lo.

Recommend it?

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Maybe.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Maybe.

Pha Suam Falls – Volcanic Basalt Column Structures.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

Day 1 Summary

Note that the Tad Champee listed today is not the good one, there are two waterfalls on the loop called Tad Champee. I recommend you skip this one as it involves a good 40-60 minute detour depending on your riding speed, down a dirt road, to a waterfall that’s the worst of the day.

It isn’t even on the paper maps that they hand out.

I basically recommend the rest of them, although Maak Ngaew and Pha Suam are no longer recommended by the bike rental agencies since they’re abandoned and there’s no scooter parking attendants. I still recommend them.

Tat Soung will not be flowing strong in the dry season, the rest will. It looks way better with a drone as you will see in my video than it does just standing there, but the sheer cliff drop is still worth checking out.

I personally think – do Pha Suam area early (this is where Maak Ngaew is as well), then do whatever activities you want, try get early to Tad Lo to get accommodation of your choice.

Make Tad Lo your final spot and go for a swim, jump off the falls, watch the locals. It’s a great place to spend the evening (see drone shot below).

Tad Lo Waterfall – Like Something From a Fairytale.

Shot on the DJI Mini 5 Pro (Amazon).

The non-waterfall activities

You will see as well that there are two other non-waterfall activities today, Mr. Vieng’s coffee plantation and Wat Pa Forest temple. I did not do the coffee plantation tour as it didn’t interest me at all and I hate joining the bottleneck of tourists.

There are three tours per day, then a massive release of tourists at the same time to hit the road and tick off all the same activities at the same time. In my opinion it’s better to get off the rhythm of everyone else to get places to yourself.

I did go to the plantation, I had lunch and a coffee (it was average) and then moved on.

Wat Pa Big Buddha Forest Temple on the otherhand was awesome. It offers a good change of pace from the waterfalls, it’s free to enter, it’s peaceful and I recommend it.

Tad Hang.

Shot on the DJI Mini 5 Pro (Amazon).

Day 2 – Tad Lo to Houay Kong

Day 2 of the Pakse loop is the day the differs from the small loop and the big loop. Day 2 has the fewest amount of waterfalls and the longest ride.

After leaving early, I rode to Sinouk Coffee Resort for a great breakfast, then I did the scenic loop (refer to maps at the top of the page) which is just a nicer ride along a river and through a smaller village, but it all joins the same highway heading east.

From there you head through Sekong towards Tad Faek, there are three waterfalls on the way to Houay Kong.

Recommend it?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Scenic Loop.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

Day 2 summary

People say this is a day with a lot of riding, I guess that depends where you’re from because none of these distances seem big to me but that could be part of being from Australia and just being used to going a long way.

I had breakfast at Sinouk Coffee Resort which was absolutely beautiful and relaxing.

The beauty of it is that it’s located right near the start of the scenic loop, so you can do a quick 30 minute ride there, have breakfast at opening time and do the scenic loop under awesome lighting conditions in the morning.

The rest of the day is boring until Tad Faek, I went for a swim here, then 5 minutes down the road is Tad Hua Khon.

Lastly on the way to Houay Kong is a waterfall with two names: Tad Katamtok / Tad Xekatam. You cannot get to this waterfall, it’s just a viewpoint from hundreds of metres away.

I’ve listed it as recommended purely for the sight, it’s free entry, there’s zero hiking needed to the viewpoint so it’s a yes from me even though you can’t get close to it.

If you arrive to Houay Kong early you can visit waterfalls from tomorrow’s list this afternoon but it depends on how you go for time and if you want to relax. I actually visited Tad Khoo on day 2, but it is in the day 3 list of waterfalls.

Tad Hua Khon.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 (Amazon/eBay link).

Day 3 – Tad Tayicseau Area

Day 3 of the Pakse loop is a short ride, from Houay Kong to Paksong. But the day is busy as there is anywhere up to 12 waterfalls that could potentially be visited.

Near Houay Kong where you stayed last night, is an area called Tad Tayicseua. Tad Tayicseua is not a waterfall despite the constant reviews online, it’s the concentration of waterfalls, the waterfalls are named separately.

On top of that are two other waterfalls that can be visited as part of the same looping road that goes to Tad Tayicseua – Tad Khoo and Tad Diew.

To be clear though, I don’t recommend you try see every waterfall on this list.

Tad Tayicseua has a lot happening and because of this I have split it into its own stand alone post.

Recommend it?

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Kiet Oak.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

How to see so many waterfalls?

I actually did Tad Khoo on the afternoon of day 2 and recommend you do the same to free up more time for Tad Tayicseau – I don’t recommend anyone bothers with Tad Diew at all.

Can you do them all? Yes – but I don’t recommend you try.

I recommend you pick a handfull of favourites and if you want to swim, finish the day at Eagle Waterfalls where there is a rope swing, jumping platform and a nice big pool.

Tad Jarou Halang.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 (Amazon/eBay link).

Day 4 – The Four Sisters

Day 4 of the Pakse loop or Bolaven Plateau loop is similar to day 3 in that there’s only a short bit of riding to be done. 

The only ride today is from Paksong to Pakse, which finishes the big loop!

The area along this stretch of road to the west of Paksong is known as The Four Sisters, due to the 4 highlight waterfalls found here. Note that there are other waterfalls around, but aren’t considered part of the loop as they’re further away.

If you get an early start on day 4, you can make it back to Pakse before 14:00 quite comfortably even with visiting all four waterfalls. 3 of these waterfalls are some of the best of the entire loop

Recommend it?

No.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Tad Champee.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

3 Out of 4 Are Worth it

Straight away let’s just clear one thing up – Tad Fane is a disappointment. 

The cost to enter, for what is essentially a viewpoint only, is a rip off. The waterfall was not really any more impressive than Tad Katamtok that was also a lookout only, but at least that was free.

The good news though is that the other three are all some of the best waterfalls on the entire loop!

Not just because of the waterfalls, but how you get to experience them. Tad E-tu is not quite as good as the other two but I had it to myself and it is very powerful.

Tad Champee is a highlight in every sense of the word. This waterfall is amazingly picturesque, calm enough for swimming in the dry season, has a raft and has this incredible path behind the water curtain.

The rock ledge overhangs by so far, you can walk right behind the water, see the water dripping through the rocks above, it’s so cool.

Tad Gneuang I initially hated as it was super popular and overcrowded, but down the bottom on the left hand side is a little section of rocks you can crawl under, to be right at the foot of the falls on the left hand side.

This changed everything. Nobody else was willing to climb as close, it blocked you from view and I felt like I had the place to myself as I couldn’t see anyone anymore and was right at the bottom of the falls.

Tad Gneuang.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

Congratulations – You’ve Finished the Pakse Loop!

That’s it for the Pakse loop, after you see the four sisters waterfalls there is about a 50 minute ride back to Pakse where you’re free to do whatever you like!

Maybe you’ll head up to Thakhek to do the Thakhek loop? I have a guide about that.

Maybe you’ll head south to visit Si Phan Don aka 4000 islands? I have a guide about the activities on offer there as well.

Bonus Day

For me, I actually turned my loop from a 4D3N Pakse loop that everybody does into a 5D4N Pakse loop by riding straight through Pakse and on towards Champasak to spend a night.

This allowed me to get up bright and early to visit the Vat Phou temple or Wat Phou temple as it’s also spelt. Read all about that part of the journey here. It’s a UNESCO heritage site and I visited it at sunrise by myself.

Breakdown of the Pakse Loop

Just briefly as this Pakse loop guide is getting too long already, but here is a quick breakdown of some of the activities and costs for the loop.

Best Stops On The Pakse Loop

My favourite stops on all of the Pakse loop are all split up into categories below. Just know that it’s an opinion based rating so will change for different people seeking different things.

Some of them are borderline between ratings, it’s just a silly exercise to try group them but I think it shows you generally what is the best waterfall on the Pakse loop.

Some are good for swimming, some as photo subjects, some are amazing experiences – there’s plenty of things that get considered when trying to decide what is the best waterfall on the Pakse loop and you may think differently.

Ranking All 21 Waterfalls

MEH

Tad Thalaleui.

Tad Champee (from day 1).

Tad Fane.

Tad Diew.

The Places I Didn’t Recommend

The places I listed as “No” for my recommendations above are not horrible, I am just saying they’re not must-see things and you won’t regret skipping them.

It is more that the Pakse Loop has a lot of stops, and if you try to do every single one, you may end up enjoying none of them properly. I won’t write them out again as the activities are mentioned higher up in the Pakse loop guide.

The only one that I strongly suggest people skip entirely is Tad Diew – it’s just a bit of a nothing waterfall.

Tad E-Tu.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 (Amazon/eBay link).

Things I Missed But Wish I Had Done

Honestly, there was nothing major.

I basically did evey waterfall and a lot more than most people ever see in going to the other Tad Champee, and walking around Tad Tayicseua longer than others tend to.

However, had I known beforehand about the other waterfalls at Tad Tayicseua I would have changed my day around to do see them all.

How Much Does The Pakse Loop Cost?

This will vary a lot depending on your bike, accommodation, food and activities. In general I found the Pakse loop to be a lot cheaper than the Thakhek loop was for the daily activities.

Some other costs to think about besides the waterfall costs throughout the Pakse loop guide are:

Motorbike rental

I paid for an automatic 125cc for added comfort and better speed. I do a lot of stuff with the filming and tend to try make up the time on the road.

Semi-automatics are cheaper at 110,000 ₭/day , but I paid 190,000 ₭/day which I considered very good compared to the cost for the same bike on the Thakhek loop. This is about $12.66 / day.

I went with Lao Go Car and Motorbike Rental.

I also visited Miss Noy and Bolaven Trail Motorbike Rental Shop. Both are suitable alternatives. Bolaven Trail was my preferred choice but they had no stock.

Fuel

I actually did more scooter rental than the typical Pakse loop since I went to visit Vat Phou temple as well. However the calculations for just the Pakse loop portion of the trip I have worked out.

Total for this 4D3N itinerary was 202,000 ₭ ($13.47 AUD).

I used 9.5 litres and averaged 49.25 km/litre.

For the extra part of the loop including Vat Phou temple and the return to Pakse the cost was 253,000 ₭ ($16.86 AUD).

I used 11.83 litres and the averages fuel economy numbers are the same.

Accommodation

This can change a lot depending on where you stay and who you share with. As a solo traveller who wants private rooms my costs were:

NIGHT 1 – PALAMI GUESTHOUSE (SHARED BATHROOM)
150,000 ₭ / $10 AUD

NIGHT 2 – PLATINUM GUESTHOUSE (AC ROOM BUT AC WASN’T NEEDED)
250,000 ₭ / $16.66

NIGHT 3 – SIRI GUESTHOUSE
400,000 ₭ / $26.66

There are more expensive accommodation options and there are cheaper ones, I won’t be covering every possible option here as it’s always subject to change.

Tad Katamtok.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

What To Pack For The Pakse Loop

I’m not going to list everything here, you’re an adult you can figure out the basics.

All I will say is that it can get cold on the bike so have a jacket. The faster or earlier you are on the bike the colder it will be.

The Bolaven Plateau is a plateau after all, so you are at elevation and it is not as tropical as you might think sometimes. However it is still tropical in the sense that it can rain at any time.

Most people travel with just a backpack, I took all of my luggage with me since my backpack was full of camera gear, but most people will just have a backpack of clothes which is good as it goes with you everywhere.

Since the Bolaven Plateau is based around waterfalls, you will want some bathers, maybe a towel, warm clothes and warm weather clothes too.

If you want to visit Tad Tayicseau at depth some decent walking shoes or hiking shoes would help on that day, but besides that the walks to the waterfalls are short.

I often had to worry about my bag on the bike. Luckily nothing was stolen. Since the last two days involve such short rides, I was able to drop bags off at accommodation and then go exploring without the bags.

Or checkout in the morning, but do a loop and come get my bags before moving to the next town.

What are the road conditions of the Pakse Loop

This might not mean much to some people but might help others:

Better than the Thakhek loop.

Better than the Ha Giang Loop.

I thought the road conditions of the Pakse loop were really good. The only poor bit was just to the east of Tad Katamtok and this only lasted for a few kilometres.

As always though, look out for children, cattle and pot holes. Road conditions can change with big rain events so they were great for me in February 2026, but it’s no guarantee they’ll be perfect forever.

How Far Do You Have To Ride?

It will vary a little bit depending on the order that you do things, but here are my stats for the riding.

DAY 1
138.2 km

DAY 2
164.3 km

DAY 3
72.1 km

DAY 4 – IF I FINISHED IN PAKSE
93.3 km

TOTAL – ENTERING PAKSE TO COMPLETE THE NORMAL PAKSE LOOP
467.9 km

TOTAL – INCLUDING VAT PHOU AND THE RETURN TO PAKSE
576.4 km

Tad Champee.

Shot on the Sony A1 (Amazon/eBay link) using the Sony 16-35mm GM II (Amazon/eBay link).

Is The Pakse Loop Safe?

It’s as safe as most other motorbike loops that you do.

Apparently 12 bikes get stolen per year on the loop. Which to me is not too bad a rate given how many people do it, but you don’t want to be that person who is stranded.

For reference though, I had my big bag tied to the back of the bike with ratchet straps (brought from home) and nothing ever got touched, but I never left my camera stuff anywhere unattended.

I did sometimes leave my bags with the accommodation (in Houay Kong and Paksong) while doing the day’s activities, then returned to pick it up lated just so nothing was ever left on the scooter.

It’s pretty safe, but you don’t want to hurt yourself as you could be a fair way from proper medical care so it’s better to ride slower than it is faster. I saw a few people in Pakse with bandages on legs and forearms.

Is The Pakse Loop Worth It?

Yes.

I personally preferred the Thakhek loop, but not by a long shot. I recommend people do both.

Final Thoughts

The advice of this Pakse loop guide is to do it. But don’t try and do everything.

If you spend more time at the best places, you’ll have an amazing time. Take the extra time if you need it, there’s no rule to say it has to be done in 4 days.