Thakhek Loop · 456 km from Thakhèk

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Thakhek

   Thakhek is a sleepy Mekong river town in central Laos, and it is the traditional starting point of the Thakhek Loop, one of the great motorcycle routes in Southeast Asia. The town sits on the Lao bank of the river, facing the Thai city of Nakhon Phanom across the water, a ferry ride or a short hop over the Friendship Bridge. Old French colonial shophouses line the riverfront in faded yellows and greys, a reminder of the time when this was an administrative outpost of French Indochina. In the evening the promenade fills with locals jogging, playing takraw and eating grilled fish.

   Read the complete Thakhek write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Thakhek is where the day begins. Next is Mahaxay.

2. 2. Mahaxay

   Mahaxay is a small town in Khammouane province, in central Laos, about forty kilometres east of Thakhek, and it lies on the edge of one of the great limestone landscapes of South-East Asia. Vertical grey cliffs, covered with green vegetation, rise from flat rice fields and rivers, forming a jagged wall of karst towers. The scenery has a dreamlike quality, particularly in the early morning when mist hangs between the peaks and water buffalo wade in the paddies.

   Read the complete Mahaxay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mahaxay comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nakai Plateau.

3. 3. Nakai Plateau

   The Nakai Plateau is a high, rolling upland in central Laos, at about 500 metres, in the south of Khammouane province, close to the Vietnamese border, and it is dominated by a huge reservoir. The Nam Theun 2 dam, completed in 2010, flooded a large part of the plateau, creating a lake with drowned forests and islands, and sold most of its electricity to Thailand. The villages that once stood here were resettled on higher ground, and the landscape has changed greatly.

   Read the complete Nakai Plateau write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Nakai Plateau. Next is Kong Lor Cave.

4. 4. Kong Lor Cave

   The Nam Hin Bun river does something rivers rarely do: it walks straight into a mountain and comes out the other side. At Kong Lor, in the Khammouane province of central Laos, it flows into a limestone tunnel about seven kilometres long, passing beneath the great karst ridge of the Phu Hin Bun, and visitors can travel through it in long narrow boats with outboard motors, in near-total darkness, with only a headlamp to light the way. The cave roof rises as high as ninety metres in places, and the formations, in places lit by coloured lamps, are impressive.

   Read the complete Kong Lor Cave write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kong Lor Cave, late in the day. Next is Thakhek.

5. 5. Thakhek

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Thakhek write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Thakhek. That is the ride.