Vientiane and Beyond (or The Songthaew That Never Came)

Wat Phu Champasak and Si Phan Don
Hi Frankie, I think that you are going to have a hard time seeing Wat Phu and any of Si Phan Don in one day and making it back to pakse. Especially using public transport. As far as I know, You would have have to get to champasak/wat phu (1+ hr songtheaw, I read about buses but saw no evidence) . Then go to the ferry terminal, cross the river, get to the mainroad, get something going south to hat xi khun (2hr), where you could find boats to take you to don khnong. then you'd have to get the ferry back to hat xi and find something running north straight up to pakse (3 hr). I did both these journeys southward by songthaew but as far as I know these only leave in the morning, so that wouldnt work. There were tourist minibuses running to both places but once again I think these all left in the morning. Everything leaves in the morning! Have you looked into boats? I'm afraid I dont know much about this option, but I think you could hire a boat at most of the ferry terminals. The problem with this is being a tourist area isthat the prices may be high. But it would be beautiful! Could you consider spending the night at either champasak or on the Si Phan Don? There are lots of guest houses and you could probably get back to pakse for lunch time the following day; you can either buy a bus ticket from the guesthouse or get to the road at around 8am and flag down a bus(much cheaper!). Considering it's afternoon travel that's the problem, this might be the best option. In summary, if you could spend the night then I think you could do it independently but it would still be a hassle. I would be inclined to say try and organise a tour via an operator in Pakse. I'm sorry I cant be more help, goodluck! Tamara