So back up north again, along that now-familiar route to Paksan, for a quick overnight stay. Paksan itself is a relatively small town that sees quite heavy traffic along the highway to Vientiane that passes through it. But apart from that, there isn't all that much to see or do here. I'd decided to stop here only because there is apparently a faster route to Phonsavan from here, instead of having to pass through Vientiane. However, that road is of dubious condition, and is supposedly only passable in the dry season. Even the map in LP shows the road as dashed/ broken! It's currently the transition period from the rainy to dry season, so I wasn't initially sure if the buses would run that route, but I was lucky and it turned out they are running.
... read more
