Pakse sits where the Xe Don river meets the Mekong in the far south of Laos, a lazy, low-rise town of fewer than a hundred thousand people that works as the gateway to the Bolaven Plateau. The Mekong here is wide and brown, with sandbanks in the dry season, and a long bridge opened in 2000 with Japanese help carries the road over to the far bank. Streets are quiet, shuttered shops sell motorbike spares and coffee, and the pace is slow in a way that grows on you.
The plateau is the reason riders come. It rises to about a thousand metres east of town on old volcanic soil, and the cooler air and rich earth make it the heart of Lao coffee, along with tea, cardamom and fruit. The loop of roads over the plateau passes waterfalls such as Tad Fane, whose twin streams drop a hundred metres or so into a gorge, and Tad Yuang, a broad, easy cascade near the road. Villages of the Laven, Alak and Katu peoples line the route, with stilted houses and coffee beans drying on mats by the roadside.
The riding is a joy but demands attention. Surfaces range from smooth to broken tarmac, with potholes, gravel and occasional red mud after rain, and water buffalo, dogs and children share the way. The rainy season from May to October brings heavy afternoon downpours that wash out side roads, so mornings are best. November to February is cooler and dry, with brilliant light. Remember that this plateau was heavily bombed during the Vietnam war era, and the countryside still has unexploded ordnance, so stay on well-used tracks.
Pakse has all the services you could want: fuel stations on the main roads, guesthouses, riverside restaurants and bakeries serving the French-influenced baguette. Fill up here before climbing the plateau, since fuel in smaller villages is sold from roadside bottles and may be poor quality. Try a Lao coffee, strong and sweet with condensed milk, and a bowl of noodle soup. Wat Phou, the old Khmer temple at Champasak, is a half-day outing.