We were expecting hills, but cliffy limestone is a positive surprise

Staying at the Traveller’s Lodge in Thakhek, you can be pretty sure that everyone had been on the loop or is going to go on the loop. “The loop” is an actual loop from Thakhek back to Thakhek through the mountains which is recommended by the Lonely Planet. However, it seems to be a generally popular route as we have seen a few people with hand-drawn maps from their guest houses. 

The Lonely Planet suggests to take 4-5 days for the loop on a real motorcycle, not a scooter. Luckily, we brought our own real motorcycle so we don’t need to go through the trouble of hiring one but somehow, we didn’t see the point of taking 4-5 days for a 350km loop. Maybe the length of our journey starts to show.

I have come to like the combination of flat road with marvelous scenery

After the first Nutella baguette breakfast in a looooooooong while we started on the suggested route. We deliberately left it open how far we would get today as 70km of the loop are supposed to be unsealed and the condition of that stretch was played up a lot in the guide book. The most important reason for doing the loop is access to the Kong Lor Cave later on. So despite there being possible waterfall and cave stops on the first 20km, we felt like riding for a bit without interruption. So we rode until we came to the Nam Theun 2 Power Station. 

It’s a trap!

A hydroplant has been built into the Theun river and is open and running since 2010. While it is a big change in the landscape, it is certainly awesome for Laos to produce their own clean energy. At the moment, 95% of the power is exported to Thailand which is a major source of income for the country. Given that Flo has worked with Meridian in the past, we stopped and had a look around the Visitors Center here. The project at least tried to avoid most of the nasty things and took care while resettling people and animals before flooding a valley to create the reservoir.

eerie dead trees

After the last building belonging to the Power Station, the unsealed section was due to start. However, the tarmac continued on for another 40km. It was then that we hit the construction site. The last 30km are still technically unsealed but the preparations for sealing it are in full swing so it is more like a major dirt road than anything else. Rocinante and the Heidenau tyres had absolutely no problem with it. On the road to Lak Sao, the town on the other end of the unsealed stretch, we saw many “newly” flooded patches with dead tree trunks still poking out of the water surfaces giving the surroundings an eerie quality. First, we were really surprised that no one had collected the timber before flooding, then it dawned on us that the whole area would have needed to be cleared of UXO (unexploded ordinances) which was probably too costly.

A bit of fun in front of this amazing backdrop

Our roadside lunch was good and finally didn’t cost us an arm and a leg but food remains one of the most expensive factors in Laos. You can’t actually eat anywhere without paying at least $8. In comparison, that is a lot just for food. Lak Soa is a tiny, sleepy town in midst of awesome mountains and the next 70km until Ban Khoun Kham were beautiful. Laos definitely is a motorcycle country; for the first time in a long while we stopped so that I could take photos of Flo riding the roads with a mountain backdrop. Epic.

It has furniture. For $14 a night!

Ban Khoun Kham is the slightly bigger town to stay in if you want to visit Kong Lor cave. From here, it is another 50km to the entrance but you get a greater choice of guest houses, restaurants and a petrol station. Plus, when we stopped at the Xokxai Guesthouse, we got an amazing room for less than we paid last night (remember the concrete box?) AND we were the only guests here. Flo and I were super happy with spending the afternoon relaxing in bed or on the terrace before the lady of the house cooked us a delicious vegetarian noodle soup for dinner. Two massive bowls arrived on our table and, I kid you not, one would have been sufficient to feed Flo and me.