Our journey from Vientiane all the way down to Champasak in southern Laos was a true overland adventure — a series of long, hot local buses through the heart of the country. The route mostly followed the Mekong River, but the landscape was surprisingly flat and not as dramatic as we expected. The road was in poor condition, with cows, chickens, goats, and children casually wandering across it. Laos drivers rarely went over 50 km/h, and road rules seemed to be more of a suggestion than a requirement.

Thakhek

Thakhek is essentially a border town between Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. There’s not a lot to do here, but we ended up staying a full week. The reason? We found the excellent Inthira Hotel, which had beautiful rooms, a great restaurant, and surprisingly good red wine. It became our comfortable base while exploring the area.

From Thakhek we did a memorable day trip to Kong Lor Cave — a spectacular 7.5 km long cave with a river running through it. We travelled by canoe through the darkness, emerging into a remote village that can only be accessed via the cave. It was used as a shelter during the war, a sobering reminder of Laos’ tragic history. America dropped more bombs on Laos than on all of Europe during WWII, and even today people are still injured by unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Savannakhet

Even quieter than Thakhek, Savannakhet had almost nothing going on. We only stopped here to break up the long journey to Pakse. The highlight? Finding a tiny café that served an surprisingly amazing chicken schnitzel in the middle of nowhere.

After another long, hot 6-hour bus ride — packed with people, sacks of rice, and all sorts of cargo — we finally reached Pakse. From there we took a tuk-tuk and then a songthaew to reach our final destination.

Champasak

Sometimes you arrive somewhere and it just feels right. That place for us was Champasak. This sleepy Mekong village, gateway to Wat Phu and the 4000 Islands, completely stole our hearts. Goats and chickens wandered along the main road, kids played happily, and life moved at the slowest, most peaceful pace.

We stayed again at the lovely Inthira Hotel, which felt like a little piece of heaven after days of dusty buses. The rooms were excellent, the staff warm, and the food outstanding. We had planned to stay just one or two nights… but ended up staying much longer.