The Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos is known for its coffee and waterfalls that plunge off the edges of the plateau. It's a destination we have been looking forward to visiting since we arrived in Laos. We decided to make a road trip of it, even though that meant eight hours driving (more depending on how many trucks, animals and children slow you down) on the occasionally treacherous roads. The highlights/lowlights of the car ride were the surprising number of foreigners apparently biking the length of Laos, a semi truck full of dogs, and a truck carrying a gigantic log that was spewing so much black smoke we actually thought there was a fire until we rounded the bend and saw that all of the smoke was coming from one vehicle.
Coffee Beans
We are not huge coffee drinks and after visiting the plateau we realized that we knew absolutely nothing about how coffee is grown and produced. The coffee was quite good though and needed on the cold mornings. Someone told us it gets down to 5 degrees Celsius during the cold season.
Tad Pasuam
Tad Hang
Tad Lo
Sunset on the Xe Xet River
Tad Nyeuang
Tad Fan
Tad Itou
Car problems prevented us from reaching our ultimate destination of Attapeu but it was still a memorable trip and the waterfalls were as spectacular as we had imagined. The trip was also a wonderful reminder of how enjoyable and relaxing southern Laos can be.
This is amazing!
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