One of the most famous things in Laos is the loops done on a motorcycle.

There are two main ones: Thakhek and Pakse. Being not experienced motorcyclists (Louis; Ece doesn’t drive anyway), we did the easier one but we would like to do the other one at some point as well.

It was a very entertaining and educative couple of days. We spent 3 days on the road with our small backpacks and stayed at night on the way. The road is between rice fields and coffee farms. Did you know that there are coffee plantations in Laos? We neither!

Mister Vieng coffee plantation

Our first stop was at Mister Vieng’s coffee plantation. We made a tour of the surroundings and listened to his teachings.

Three types of coffee plants

He showed us three types of coffee plants, here listed in order of size (smaller to bigger):

• Arabica (harvest after 2 years), the hardest to grow, needs a lot of shadow, and mountains.
• Robusta (harvest after 4/5 years)
• Liberica (harvest after 4/5 years)

They all need the first 1 year in small separate pots, under the shadow with a lot of water. Sizes are also seen in the distance to keep between each plant. Can be harvested up until 25 years, after that needs to be cut and regrown.

Processing of the beans

In the course of their processing, beans are green, red and then black (red is the one to be harvested). For processing:

1. Get the skin off.
2. Dry in the sun for 15-20 days.
3. Get the second skin off.
4. Roast of 30-35min. The darker it gets, the stronger the taste. Without burning, no coffee-taste!

Our unexpected meal

While visiting the plantation, mister Vieng showed us a sick coffee plant infested by ants. He started taking a bunch of these and eating them, alive! He made us try some (that he killed beforehand). The verdict: these ants were surprisingly tasting like lemon.

We found out that the taste comes formic acid, produced as part of a glandular chemical defence system: When crushed or attacked, it is released to communicate an alarm to nearby individuals.

The scenic inner loop

Within the loop, we did a small detour in a more mountainous and remote part. While a bit harder to manage the steep roads with the motorbike, the detour was totally worth it. Here are some landscapes we saw:

The waterfalls

Pakse loop is known for its picturesque waterfalls, while some were .man-made by damming the Mekong River, others were naturally formed by the river and its tributaries.

Tad Lo

This series of three waterfalls is located near the village of Tad Lo:

Tad Yuang

This waterfall cascades down a series of cliffs into a turquoise pool. It was very impressive, especially when swimming at the bottom of it!

Katu village Ban Kok phung tai

One of the most interesting parts of our whole travel was visiting an isolated village Kokphungtai. Here lives a small ethnic group called Katu; the name meaning people living in the mountain by the river (Ka: mountain, ta: river). They intial come from north India, and were disconnected from the rest of the society for a long time, only recently the government enforces them to learn the national language, to go to school and integrate with the other people, yet especially the old people still keep their unique traditions.

We had a tour here from a guy - one of the only two people in the village who learned English (against their families' wishes of course). He showed us a variety of plants, whose leaves and roots are used as medicine (including excessive amount of smoking as protection against mosquitos and bad spirits) in the village and explained the culture of their people. Some particular aspects are that they are animists (believe that every living and non-living thing in the world has a spirit), live in a polygamy (only for men), practice animal sacrifice, and have strong beliefs against bad spirits and dangers of outside world. If you want to read more about of their culture and traditions, we wrote a more detailed article on the village here.

Vat Phou

Vat Phou is an ancient Khmer temple located in Champasak, near Pakse. It was built between the 10th and 12th centuries and was dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva. The temple complex includes several structures:

The temple’s main entrance is adorned with intricate carvings of the Hindu god Vishnu and the complex is set against a backdrop of lush, mountainous terrain. We climbed up the steep staircase to the main sanctuary, which contains a stone altar and a linga (a phallic symbol of Shiva):

There is also a holy water source:

and rock carvings in the surroundings, this one depicting the three Indian gods, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu (left to right):

Or one depicting an elephant:

And a crocodile:

Wedding at Champasak!

In the small town near the temple, we also found a wedding happening, we got invited and served multiple beers (that we had often to finish in one go as requested by the locals). We had a lot of fun dancing with the people at the party!