A Ride Around Pakse.

Chantony

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The missus and I entered at the Chong Mek crossing and as mentioned here before were met with a friendly helpful bunch of folks at immigration. I had prepared my tm2 and tm3 but only the tm2 was required on this occassion. The process was pretty much as described in brian_bkk's recent post in the Laos border crossings thread although one extra document I had was the English translation of the green book, obtained from the transport dept for a small fee. All documents handed to window 1 at the 'toll booth' type area, then all docs to window 2 (customs), then all documents back to window 1 then good to go. On entering Laos I had prepared my visa on arrival form in advance and only one copy was required, they did closely inspect my usd looking for tears etc as usual but all good, 35usd fee. Thai people are supposed to enter Laos free with passport but the missus was charged 100 baht going in and coming out, we knew this may happen and just wanted to crack on with the ride, as David previously mentioned years ago it was much more difficult. The third party insurance options were 7 days for either 170 or 280 baht, the difference being higher amounts paid in the event of a claim.
Trip plan was ride to savannakhet and stay one night for visa purposes, then back to Pakse and explore the area a little, overall impressions, superb country and people. We stayed in a couple of 500 baht per night places which were perfectly fine but the bargain of the month was the Champasak Grand for 1500 baht via the agoda app, stunning views of the bridge, the river and the town from the room and an excellent buffet breakfast in the morning.
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Filll her up!
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Good to go!
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Entering Laos use the windows to the right side and back of this building just up the stairs, the staff speak very good English as expected. When exiting use the windows you see on the front.

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While getting a Laos sim this old boy came for a chat, spoke some English and French, a great character, his buddy in the background offered to swap for his bicycle.
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One night here overlooking the Mekong and Mukdahan.
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Looking across to Mukdahan.
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In front of the hotel.
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The consulate.
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Pakse where the Xe don flows into the Mekong.
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Fresh durian for sale in November on the Bolaven plateau.
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Some of the durian trees were gigantic, the locals just wait for the higher ones to drop rather than climb and cut, for scale the water tower is already on stilts beside the house.
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This lovely lady offered to take care of our helmets while we explored the waterfall.
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Tad Gneuang waterfall, which then feeds Tad Fan.
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The view from the top.
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The view from the restuarant at Tad Gneuang.


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Champasak Grand hotel room view. (Glad I ignored the negative reviews on booking.com)
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Another view from the room over Pakse as the sun comes up.
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This Buddha is bigger than it looks in this photo.
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A better idea of the scale, looking towards Pakse airport.
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Clear skies.
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The bridge over to Pakse with the Champasak Grand at the end of the bridge to the right.
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Wat Phou is a lovely road from Pakse with the Mekong on your left and the mountains on your right.
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Leaving Laos the immigration building is on your left, exit stamps at the far end on the front of the building. On arrival the building is on your right and all processes take place to the side of the building and at the back where you will also find the insurance booths, choice of three the day we arrived, all the same price.
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The new immigration building looks very near to completion. The old one is further down the road on the right.
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Having just exited Laos the Thai immigration building behind the bike. the 'toll booths' are to the left of that building, just park the bike nearby and walk to the windows.
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Bye bye Laos, see you next time.
 
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DavidFL

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Good stuff. Pleased to see everything worked out ok.
There's loads of stuff down there to see - I love the deep south & the Mekong.

How much did you pay for the hotel in Savannakhet
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My favourite in Savan is the Boua Luang
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huge rooms.
Savannakhet Accommodation

Thanks for the update - much appreciated.
 

Chantony

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How much did you pay for the hotel in savannakhet


Thanks for the update - much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

We treated ourselves that night paying 2100 baht, for that we got a one bedroom suite ie bedroom and living room with widescreen tv etc on the second floor with views of the Mekong, breakfast was good though the cheeseburger the night before was dissappointing.