Blogs from Tha Khaek, South, Laos, Asia
May 11th 2012
Vanaf de 4000 islands zijn we naar Tha Khaek gegaan. Hier hebben we twee motors/brommers (110CC) gehuurd om de " The Loop" te rijden! The Loop is een route van ongeveer 600km en onderweg kom je verschillende grotten tegen en als klap op de vuurpijl, de 7km lange grot (Tham Kong Lo). De eerste dag waren we aan de late kant weg gegaan. Dit kwam omdat we nog kapot waren van de bus reis en we de brommer en een kaart nog moesten regelen. Maar eenmaal onderweg....... wat een super mooie omgeving overal bergen met prachtige uitzichten. De natuur in Laos is echt TOP! Erg veel mooie grotten gezien. Mijn favoriete grot moet ik de naam nog van opzoeken,(dus die naam houden jullie nog tegoed). Door deze grot werden we gegidst door een klein knaapje. Tof ... read more
May 6th 2012
I travelled from Pakse to Tha Khaek in the hope of finding someone to do the loop with me. I first had heard about the loop from a guy on Ko Chang. I was told that if I go to the Tha Khaek Travellodge I will definitely find someone to do the loop with. To explain, the loop is a motorbike tour starting at Tha Kheak (most people stay and start at the Travellodge, this is also the place to meet people if you are by yourself) and takes anything from 3 to 5 days. The loop is about 340km long and can include the Kong Lo cave. You ride along some of the most amazing scenary I have ever seen. I have done the Kong Lo cave by bus and you can't really appreciate the ... read more
March 30th 2012
Looking back its hard to believe that I've been on the road for about three months now. Sometimes it feels like an eternity, other times like nothing. Timing has been perfect and whether it's been alone, or with people, every day has been great. Surprising to me, I've been here in Laos for over a month now. Never would I have expected to end up here for so long, but that's the beauty of backpacking with no set plan. When you find a place you enjoy, you stay for a while. For me, Tha Khaek was a place like that. I happened upon it by chance and ended up staying there for two weeks. I guess I wasn't in Tha Khaek for two weeks, but 12 km outside of Tha Khaek in the mountains at a ... read more
March 27th 2012
18th December Today we set off for Tha Khaek – another joyful Laos style public transport experience! When we arrived we started usual negotiations with a tuk-tuk driver. It didn’t work-at all! Tuk-tuk driver turned out to have a tuk-tuk big boss and he was very much in charge of his platoon of drivers. When we appealed to other tuk tuk drivers we were shunned! We weren’t being funny, he had asked for an extortionate price even by English standards. He won; we caved as we had no choice. If we had to sum up Tha Khaek in one word I would say “dusty.” “Dust anyone??!” Tha Khaek is full of it. After arriving at our guesthouse we got ourselves dusted off (sorry couldn’t resist) and got some yummy food and contemplated our options for the ... read more
March 1st 2012
Sabaidee from Laos!! Yes you read right we are still in Laos, hard to leave this country!! After leaving Vientiane we were heading to Tha Khaek, in central Laos. The town itself is laying nicely next to the mighty Mekkong river with a peacful atmosphere. Everywere watermelons along the streets and it seemed like people were sleeping with their harvest until the last of the millions was sold. This city is the starting point for a really nice motorbike ride into the countryside. 500km in 5 days laid in front of us. It was A M A Z I N G worth all the pain in the ass after long rides. The loop started the first day from Tha Khaek anticlockwise along limestone mountains with small caves, big caves, very big caves, caves with lagoons and ... read more
Doing the 450 km Motorbike "Loop" in Central Laos
Published: February 5th 2012Asia » Laos » South » Tha Khaek
February 5th 2012
I spent last friday in Tha Khaek looking for a decent motorbike to do the loop with, and hoping to find a couple of people to join me. I had a motorcycle rental place recommended by a guy at a nearby restaurant, but when I turned up the following morning they told me they had no motorbikes left. Also I didn't find any other tourists setting off the same day, so I decided that I would start off alone and surely find somebody that first night at whatever guesthouse I stop at. I hired a small Korean/Laos motorbike from the guesthouse I was staying at, and set off about 9.30am on saturday morning. The "loop" is a 400 km plus circuit to the northeast of Tha Khaek notorious for over 100 kms of very bad roads ... read more
March 10th 2011
SORRY FOR THE DELAY PEOPLE So week 6 kicked off with a late arrival in Thakhek, thanks to a broken down bus in which we think someone stole our fucking camera. Little bastard. 1am in the morning and we share a tuk tuk in to the town with an English couple called Rich and Lucy. They are also planning on doing ´The Loop´, a 350km round trip through mountains around most of central Laos. We met the next day for a chat about how we were going to tackle this little challenge and met a Canadian lad named Ben, who was also about to take on the trip. We all thought that a little entrouge like this would hold us in better stead for a safe and enjoyable time. So now with myself,Ryan, Andrei, Snaedis, Rich, ... read more
The Loop...Cross your fingers, cross your toes, will you make it? ...nobody knows!
Published: March 16th 2011Asia » Laos » South » Tha Khaek
March 7th 2011
One hell of a ride!...all 287 miles of it! Glad to be out of Vientiane, we were looking forward to getting away from the main city and heading to Tha Khaek, a very rural area of Laos where we were planning on doing a 3 day motorbike trip on a route nicknamed, “the loop.” Our previous research had led us to believe it wouldn’t all be perfectly fun and easy, and some parts would be a bit challenging. We already knew we wanted to stay at the Travel Lodge just outside of town after reading a little about it, and a previous friend we had traveled with, Bea, was meeting us there as well. It was definitely a good thing we had pre-booked a room because we saw quite a few other backpackers get turned away ... read more
December 26th 2010
I spent x-mas day in Thakhet - using the internet, shopping for clothes (found some great shorts) and generally hanging out at cafes and the guest house. The evening was spent around a pit fire at the guest house, chatting with other travelers. An enjoyable day all around! On the 26th, I decided to rent a motorbike and try to travel to the Konglor cave, a distance of more than 160 km one way. Although they call them motorbikes they are more scooters - no clutch and 4 gears. Although the speedometer maxs out at 160 km/hr, I only managed to wind it up to 90 km - maybe my own fear stopped me? Anyway, it was a cute red bike with green spokes! It had rained the evening before and there was a strong cool ... read more
December 23rd 2010
Merry xmas to you! It's the 25th and I am in a Thakhet restaurant, a little sunburned, but otherwise healthy. I left Vientiane on the 22nd to go to Thakhet in south central Laos. I arrived in the early evening and focused on renting a hotel room and getting some dinner. I am at the Travel Lodge - a decent guest house that is not linked to the american chain of hotels. On the morning of the 23rd, I joined a fellow traveler, Garret, from the Netherlands, for breakfast. He was preparing to leave on a 2 day trek to visit several limestone caves and to spend the night at a small village in the jungle. I called the tour company and managed to join the trek on short notice. Then some fast packing (stuff to ... read more
