Tad Paxuam Waterfall and Uttayan Bajiang Village Pakse Laos

Thamuang is very close to the border with Laos.  There is also a twice daily international bus service to Pakse in Laos and it only takes about three and a half hours.  This is very convenient for me to re-new my visa to allow me to stay in Thailand a while longer.

We first visited Pakse last year - see July 2011 blog posts.

The border at Chong Mek (Thailand) and Vang Tao (Laos) has changed a lot in the last year and travellers now have go through an underground tunnel from Thailand to Laos (and vice versa).  It's different, and once in the tunnel it is rather James Bondish, but I can't for the life of me think why they have gone to so much trouble when the border control and customs procedures are so informal.  No luggage is checked so the transfer of anything one way and the other is easy.

An unusual way to cross borders

 We stayed at the Champasak Palace hotel again.  The quirky but good hotel that stands so dominant by the river Se and close to the enormous Mekong river.

After a good night's sleep we rented a motorbike for 60,000 kip (about £4.75 - amazing value) and rode the 35 kms or so to the waterfall known as Tad Paxuam and the ethnic village called Uttayam Bajiang.  I mentioned in last year's post that the driving in Pakse was at best mayhem, and I can report that after one year there is no apparent improvement.  I rode the bike with caution and still wonder how I picked my way through the traffic.  At one point I can remember being overtaken and undertaken whilst seeing bikes and cars coming towards me from the right and left.  It was like being in a real life video game.  

Once we left the outskirts of Pakse we could relax and soon reached Uttayan Bajiang.  The village is the culmination of years of hard work by a successful businessman Wimol Kijbamrung.  He describes how he arrived at the site in 1999 and set to work with the local villagers.  All they had was an old hoe between them and Wimol describes that the most valuable item then held between them was an old bicycle frame!  The site had been stripped of its wild life as the locals would kill almost anything with a heart beat and moving for food.  Gradually the site was transformed and given back to nature, for example 25,000 indigenous trees were planted.  The locals have survived and in the locality 13 tribes exist side by side.  Visitors can stay in traditional houses and enjoy a break next to the nature of the Bolaven Plateau.  The villagers produce crafts and generally manage the area.

Sadly Wimol was struck down with malaria just one week after the village opened and as a result he is blind.  However, his enthusiasm lives on in a quest and promise to support and sustain the culture and nature.

Main waterfall

Bridge constructed entirely of bamboo

Guest house

Guest house

Jungle house

Jungle house

Local explaining the pan pipes

Sorry the video is on its side - but its worth a look anyway

We had a very pleasant couple of hours wandering round this really beautiful conservation area.  The locals are friendly and the wildlife abundant.  

We then moved on to the Tad Fane waterfall, which we visited last year as well.  The area is obviously being developed at a fast rate for industry because of the proximity to the Thai border, and tourism with resorts, luxury villas and restaurants.  Nevertheless, it is a beautiful area and if you get the chance just go for it.  There are connections onwards to Cambodia and Vietnam by overnight bus at good rates.