The last Fall

It was a mere 86km back to Pakse from Tad Lo but we had one more waterfall to check out. Tad Pa Suam at 51km mark. Since we had time, we decided to spend the night there and space out the trip. The climb out of Tad Lo was ardrous for 10km as we scaled 400m and there was a particular section that had a 12% gradient.

Despite being rested, it was still hardwork but once we were at the summit, it was a breezy downhill all the way for 40km. Taking our time, we had wonderful opportunities to play with the ever friendly Lao kids during our re-grouping breaks.

We had great fun drafting each other and over the days, we had learned to do this quite effectively. Research have shown harnessing better aerodynamics increases riding efficiency by 20-40%. Foldies, having smaller wheels, can draft tighter than normal 700c road bikes. That is a fact!

The turnoff to Tad Pa Suam came unexpectedly early and seeing huge Thai tourist luxury coaches turn in gave us some clue about the "guesthouse" that awaited us. This being the New Year weekend, the whole of Thailand descended upon this small place. Part of the reason is that this resort is developed by a Thai eco-entrepreneur, Khun Vimon, and he lost his eye sight in the development process due to Malaria. Prices too were in Baht.

After enjoying being in sparsely populated area, we found it difficult to appreciate the crowds. We even had difficulty finding parking place for our bikes as the car park was chockers. Providence once again was shown to us in the form of the last Tree House available for US$38. They were happy for 4 of us to squeeze in and I must admit it was quite a quaint experience to live among the birds, branches and leaves, to the sound of waterfalls once again.

The open air Balinese style bathroom was truly innovative but we had to tolerate thin walls and could hear every snore from our noisy neighbour below. We reciprocated the courtesy. Also, we had an ant infestation and Mike emptied a whole can of insect spray and the chemical warfare killed and discouraged any ants for a ten mile radius!

Lunch and dinner was taken at the only Thai style restaurant which had fabulous and authentic Thai food, not your usual Tom Yums and Red/Green Curries. They had a great 7 course deal for 900B (US$30) for 4 of us and their food was excellent, and so was their warm ambience.

We did a stroll to the waterfalls and soaked ourselves after walking pass the hordes of Thai tourists, many who came as 3 generation families. They seemed to be happy making fires on the rocks and cooking their meals. I even saw a family making fresh Papaya Salad with their own mortar and pestle set!

It was really encouraging to know that this waterfall resort was build to provide employment to the tribal villages that stayed there. We could visit them and see their skill in weaving ethnic traditional cloths that had the prettiest colours for sale.

Tad Pa Suam was certainly worth the visit and sleeping high up in the trees like Tarzan was a real treat! However, it was sad to know this was going to be our last fall for our Bolaven adventure.

Basking in Tad Lo

It was great to have a nearly bike free day and to enjoy Tad Lo. The magic of this place is its tranquility with quiet running waters. It was good to get up late and this we did. We all ended up sitting on the balcony wrapped up in blankets in the cold morning, watching the waterfall in all its majesty until our stomachs rumbled for breakfast.

Seisu’s breakfast was very decent as I enjoy good baquettes which the Laotians perhaps through the French have learned to master. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

We then hung around the waterfall and perched ourselves at the best spots to soak in the view and bask in the sun. Moments like this remind me of Psalm 23^rd where we enjoyed a time of quiet reflection at the year that has just gone by so quickly.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
² He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
³ He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths. (TLB)

With great reluctance, we wrestled ourselves out of Saise Resort at noon, and moved 1km to Tad Lo Lodge across the falls. At double the price with half the views, we weren’t jumping up and down but it was certainly more upmarket in facilities and service. We caught up on laundry, enjoyed a picnic lunch and was joined by Blackie the dog. Wanted to do an elephant ride but it was booked out!

The manager told us about a dam 5km away and we decided to explore that with our bikes. So much for a bike free day! Turned out it was a nice enough ride except she didn’t tell us about the steep hills and it ended up 12km. Rode past 2 quiet villages and crossed a bridge with views of the mountains. To see another waterfall, we needed to hike 1.5km so we ditched that plan and return via the main road. We were rewarded with another high speed descent but that only served to warn us about the climb we had to do early morning the next day. We chilled out soaking in the cool natural pools with glee.

Dinner was at the famous Tim’s from LP fame. This Laotian guy speaks fluent English as well as several other languages. He also charges internet at US$6 per hour, supposed to be in aid of building a school. While waiting for our dinner, he had a guitar which Celia played and we had a sort of pre-dinner karaoke which was very special.

Basking in Tad Lo certainly was a wonderful start for the New Year.

Riding High to Tad Lo-w

We got up bright and early all rested and refreshed. It was a cold night of probably 14c but the thick blankets did their job. It was a lengthy goodbye as we got our bikes out of the shed and took pics with the Green View owner and family. Our hunt for a suitable breakfast place was rewarded when we saw a group of Americans on the road side drinking coffee.

We have stumbled upon the famous Mr Coffee’s café -where fresh Bolaven coffee was served with local pastries and bananas. He hails from Holland and married a Laotian damsel and now runs a coffee plantation. His little café even has free wi-fi, clean toilets and he is the walking Wikipedia of Paksong.

It was really great to get first hand information on the roads ahead and his advice was to stay on the sealed roads, and forget about the Lonely Planet’s recommended alternative dusty route. A German couple we met later who took the adventurous 50km off road journey to Tad Lo described their cycle trip as "Asmathic". Mr Coffee told us the best news ever, it was going to be downhill all the 62km way, losing 1300m to 400m!

After yesterday’s climb and moving so slowly like a tortoise, we began our ride like hares. It was heavenly to cycle with a slight downhill incline and really making tracks. 25-30kmh seemed to be our normal cruising speed and light weight becomes a liability. My new role as a mule with three panniers finally became fun.

We were really eating the miles and could not believe how fast we covered ground. The roads were excellent with breathtaking scenery. Saw a lone European cyclist struggling up in the opposite direction and felt sorry for him but we had paid our dues.

We glided 40km in 2 hours and arrived at Tha Teng, a small hamlet. Eating noodles for lunch at another non-descript Laos eatery with loud Laotian music across the street was much better than our initial stop. There, they only had water with no ice and served pink chicken that looked like road kill.

At the roundabout, we proceeded straight on to Ban Beng and this turned out to be the ride of our life. The inclines here were steep and both Wei and I hit 60kmh. I had to slow down several times as my eyes started tearing and had trouble seeing. My fully loaded Speed 16 got a bit wobbly at those speeds too and taking the long bends at high speed demanded my utmost concentration. This was where I wished I had a 60t chain ring as it spun out at 40+kmh and ducking into the wind was the only way to go faster.

The T Junction of Ban Beng appeared in no time and we stopped for cold drinks to regroup at a shop with a pool table. Seem to attract many bored houseware salesmen on their packed-to-the-gills mopeds. While they had fun playing pool, a couple of black pigs wandered around in the backyard and naked children watched. Time in a typical Lao village sure stood still.

A quick left and easy 6km flattish ride brought us to Tad Lo. Mr Coffee’s instructions to take the first turn after the bridge where the market was, was spot on. On this short stretch, traffic picked up as it was the main road. We saw a van hit a small puppy and killed it before our very eyes. So tragic as the driver was obviously driving too fast. He tried to stop but failed. Ironically, I saw two dogs mating 10 mins later. The cycle of life I guess? We passed a village with a sign proudly proclaiming itself as a “Crimeless Village”. It was a short 1km ride from the bridge to Tad Lo falls where all the guesthouses clustered.

We settled for Saise Guesthouse and the only 2 spacious rooms left went for US$20 with a priceless view of the waterfall at the balcony. We grabbed it! This was a real blessing as one gets to sleep with the lovely gurgling sounds of rushing water despite numerous power failures. My bed even had a waterfall view. It was a pity that we could only stay for one night here.

What a wonderful place to end 2010 and we celebrated and feasted with a big dinner at Saise’s restaurant enjoying the magnificent waterfalls under the dazzling stars, with complementary candle lighting no thanks to yet another power failure. Our hearts were overflowing with gratitude for this very special day indeed, of our unforgettable ride from high up at Paksong to Tad Lo.

Note - We decided to stay two nights here as it was so beautiful and moved to Tad Lo Lodge the next day. A tad (pun intended) expensive at US$45 but its all about location, location, location as they say. We enjoyed great service too from the cheerful and friendly staff.

Up, up and away... to Paksong

One helmet on thousands of coffee beans

It was an early start. Wolfing down the very average breakfast at Sang Aroun Hotel, we set off gingerly with butterflies in our stomachs at 0800. 50km of climbing awaited us from 100m to 1200m. The four of us cycled steadily through surprisingly very thick traffic. Though it was a nice cool 17c, the black smoke from poorly maintained diesel trucks and buses nearly choked us to death.

After about 8km, things got better. The traffic was seemingly lighter and the scenes of the beautiful Lao countryside started to appear. The sun was breaking through and made for superb lighting. The incline at this stage was nearly imperceptible and gave our lazy legs the much needed warm up.

We averaged about 10-15kmh which was dismal but things were going to get worse. At 21km, we arrived at Banana Junction and stopped there for a breather and fresh fruits, perhaps for too long. A Danish couple joined our table and we enjoyed good conversations. Many people rode on rented Honda mopeds and we were wondering if we should have done the same.

Our progress was painful and the sun was starting to blaze. It took forever for us to climb to 31km marker and the gradient got steeper. At this stage, we were stopping every 4km and we took nearly an hour to cover such a short distance. Wei on a racer and being much younger than us oldies on foldies naturally went up faster and it was kind of her to wait for us. We passed blacksmiths and coffee drying in the sun, but were too tired to explore further. Soon, our energy levels were waning and we had a simple lunch of fried eggs with onions plus sticky rice at a simple and dinghy Laotian roadside eatery. US$5 with drinks for the 4 of us and that got us recharged to tackle more hills.

We were so glad to arrive at 40km mark where Tad Fan, the first waterfall awaited us. It was a 1km ride on dirt roads and the Expedition and Speed 16, both with wide tires, covered easily.

Tad Fan has a eco-resort cum lovely restaurant overlooking the magnificient falls and we refreshed ourselves there with Lao beer, spring rolls and lots of french fries.

It took us a long while to peel ourselves away from such a sight and knowing that in just 2km, was another waterfall Tad Yeung did the trick. Here, it was a 2km dusty road that really rattled every bone we had. This falls were rather different and flattish and there were many restaurants and even a relatively expensive lodge there. We were all quite spent and wanted to stay there but unfortunately, they wanted a prince ransom for a very average wooden hut. No deal!

Pressing on at 5pm, we had one hour of sunlight left before reaching Paksong and we had to ride in the dark. We made the mistake of not planning for night riding and only Mike had a proper light which all of us depended on. Pitch dark, blinded constantly by oncoming traffic, cold, and just pointing our front wheel straight and hoping for the best made for a most harrowing ride.


I took comfort that my guardian angel is always before us and true enough at 730pm, we spotted Christmas lights on the side of the road. Turned out Greenview Guest House had a beautiful large room that could take four of us for only US$15. The owner took pity on 4 dirty, scruffy and shivering cyclists and drove us to a nearby restaurant for dinner in this brand new Hilux ute. Such wonderful Laos hospitality and kindness which really made our day!

All of us had no difficulty falling asleep in the comfort of a warm room on a cold night up, up and away in Paksong. The worse was over!

ps: One rider from CGOAB took 5 hrs to climb just 18km. I feel comforted!

An orange sunset in Pakse

It was a most comfortable flight on Lao Aviation from Siem Reap to Pakse, Laos. The twin propellor plane was only 20% filled and we had plenty of attention from the crew and plenty of seats to choose from. The 55 min flight was scenic, hugging the Mekong and providing lots of views of the mountains that await us.

Clearing airport immigration was very casual and relax. This after all is Laos, PDR which rightly stands for Please Don't Rush. The van took all four of us and our bikes to Sang Aroun in 5 mins for US$10. Not cheap considering it was so close. The town of Pakse was founded in 1905 by the French and is a very agreeable laid back town by the riverside. It has decent restaurants and we found the food cheap and good!

We wasted no time to assemble the bikes and it was surprisingly a breeze. 10-15 mins tops. Travelling with foldies really light up our faces. We took an evening ride to test our bikes and was greeted with the most brilliant sunset which lighted the whole sky orange. With the Mekong as our backdrop, it was an artistic extravaganza that only our Creator can paint. We stopped and just soaked in the view and felt something inside us stir.

My stomach is getting better but still not 100%. Grateful that toilet bowl runs are over, for now. Early ride tomorrow to Paksong. Its 50km uphill all the way!