Thursday, 17 March 2011

Paksong - a grand day out

This is being posted for the benefit of other travellers visiting the Bolaven plateau who like to avoid organised tours. We hired a motorbike in Pakse and used it for this trip which took us about 5 gentle hours, 3 walking, from Paksong. We took a picnic.

From the 0km mark in Paksong go east about 1.5km to a dirt road right with a big sign for the Nong Luang natural area. The sign is old and dirty and has pictures of waterfall and rocks and says 13.5km. If you reach the Attapeu road you have gone too far.

The dirt road you follow is described in the 2007 Lonely Planet as "arse-jarring" but on 11 March 2011 it was mostly smooth with short rough bits. We trundled along at about 30kph. It was the end of the dry season.

As you enter the village there is a big sign with a picture of a waterfall saying 3.5km left. Stop here and read the small blue sign giving prices for homestays etc. As far as we could tell this is from the past.

Pass the sign and swing right and after a few metres you will see a small blue sign saying "Ticket check point". We gestured but got waved on. In the small shop/cafe on the other side of the road there is a big noticeboard covered with photos and maps from when the area was opened in 2004. Unfortunately we didn't see this until we stopped on the way back. The lady here kindly looked after our motorbike. Park here and enjoy the following walk. There are other paths and waterfalls marked, but this is what we did.

Follow the track all the way and you will go under a big blue arch saying welcome to the Keelee Vong Kot natural area. Keep left following the waterfall sign. Continue on the track which later swings right and arrives at a Buddhist shrine under a big overhanging rock. This will have taken you about 30-45 minutes. We spent a while trying to find the way from here but it turned out to be very easy.

Climb the wooden steps at the right of the rock (picture) then another set and a third and you will be on top of the big rock. You will see a path leading up the slope in front of you. The blue sign in Lao is off to the right, so don't use this as a marker. Go up the slope and at the top you will see a new (2010) golden Buddha on top of the hill in front of you. Admire the view from the Buddha.

Follow the path down immediately to the right of the Buddha and go into the forest. After about 100-200m you come to a fork. There is a small sign saying Keelee Vongkot rock left. Go left through more forest to come to the rock formations. Don't stop at the first, keep going till the big one at the end (pic).

Retrace your steps to the fork and go the other way. After about 100m the path goes down, eventually to a rotten flight of steps. You will see a big decaying building on your right, probably built for visitors to admire the view. There is a path behind it that may go down to the bottom of the falls, but we didn't follow it.

Follow the original path left and shortly you reach the top of the falls (pic). Enjoy your picnic here!

The return walk to the village took us less than an hour. A man who spoke some English appeared and we had to decline laolao (rice wine) from another friendly group.

Sent from my HTC

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