Riding the Bolaven plateau bike loop

Bolaven Plateau Loop or Pakse Loop is one of the two famous bike loops in Laos, the other one being the Thakhek Loop through karst mountains. Bolaven Plateau Loop is a 350 km loop starting and ending in Pakse, a town in the south of Laos. It passes through coffee plantations, rice fields and has almost 18 waterfalls enroute. This is the Big Loop but it can also be done as a short loop of 200 km in 2 days, but that leaves out some of the most beautiful waterfalls on the route. So we decided to do the big loop. 

However since I went in the end of dry season, most of the smaller waterfalls had dried and the big ones also didn't have as much water. It takes 3-4 days to do this loop, but the villages on the way are so beautiful, I would have gladly spent a week.

Bikes can be easily rented from Pakse, with a choice of semi-automatic and fully automatic. But like most of South East Asia, the passports are kept as a guarantee while you are away with the bike. Miss Noy bike rental is the most famous here. It has great reviews on most online travel forums and is run by a Laotian lady Miss Noy and her Belgian husband Mr. Yves for their professional behaviour, support during the bike ride and ease of communication in English and French. They conduct a detailed briefing session about do's, don'ts, tips about driving the Bolaven loop. We also attended this session where Yves, the Belgian husband of Miss Noy explained all the fine details regarding the route, road conditions, guesthouses on the way, any other interesting places to see on the way, where to park, which waterfalls to avoid so that the bikes don't get stolen.  Unfortunately we didn't get bikes from them, as there were no more bikes available. So on Yves'a advice, we went to Nang Noi Guesthouse, who also rent good motorbikes. We rented semi automatic this time, as they tend to have better control due to the gears. Ariana tried some rounds in the town itself, before she was comfortable with the bike. 

On the bike in Laos, on dirt roads

Day 1:

And then we set off a little after 9 am. Although it was a delayed start, we hoped to make up for time. We had a brief stop at Mr. Vieng coffee farm, known for its ethical and organic coffee farming, to have some good coffee. 

Indigenous tea and coffee filters made of bamboo

The place also has great food at affordable price, but due to language barrier, the lady there didn't understand and said she had no food. We reached Tad Lo village only around 230 pm, a bit tired and famished. Looked for accommodation and had a quick lunch as we wanted to see the waterfalls. There are quite a few guest houses in Tad Lo and some of them overlooking the Waterfall. We took a double room at 60000 kip (around 6 USD), but there are dorms available at 25000 kip per person per night. 

There are three waterfalls to see from this village - Tad Lo, Tad Hang and Tad Soung (Tad means waterfall on Laotian, so all waterfall names begin with Tad). 

Tad Hang Waterfall

Temporary wooden bridge on Tad Hang waterfall in dry season

Tad Lo waterfall

It's possible to swim in the first two. The third one Tad Soung is about 7 km from the village. It was dry when we went but it was fun hiking from the base of the Waterfall to its top and enjoy the views from the top. The hike up was almost vertical and we scrambled up holding some wooden ladders and roots of trees.

The view from the top was worth the hike and the thin stream of water almost created rain like effect.

View from the top of Tad Soung

Sitting on top of a waterfall is quite rare

And on the way back Ariane and I hitched a ride on a local guy's bike as we were tired of walking more than 10 km. Spent the evening drinking beer at the Tad Hang waterfall. 

Day 2:

Next morning we set off again, a bit early as we wanted to go to Kok Phoung Tai village, which was well known on this route for its strange tribal culture. It is mentioned in many blogs and is kind of a must see place on the Pakse loop. The people in this village start smoking pipe at the age of 3, get married at 8 or 9 years and always stay in joint families, which sometimes results in almost 100 people staying in the same house. They believe that foreign visitors bring bad luck to the village, so don't open up to foreign tourists, but Mr. Hook, a guy from this village who speaks decent English, conducts tours twice a day. I thought the tour was overhyped. I did not experience anything additional by visiting the village, spent 3 hours just listening to Mr.Hook, and I had read everything he spoke, almost verbatim. While the village is very interesting, you do not get to actually see much of their daily life or visit a home. You will hear mostly about history of coffee and walk through coffee plantations. Mr. Hook also shows many local medicinal plants. If coffee farm or plants is your interest, then take the tour with Mr. Hook, otherwise just see the waterfalls. However, to really experience the village, it might be worthwhile spending a night in the village. If you have 4 days, you can stay in Kok Phoung Tai, but if you have only three days, then you can stay either in Tad Lo or Kok Phoung Tai. 

After spending around 3 hours in the village, we drove towards Tad Tayicseua, which has almost 7 waterfalls to see. On the way there were two more waterfalls - Tad Faek and Tad Houa Khon. Tad Faek was dry, and we stopped for lunch at PS Garden & restaurant near Tad Houa Khon. This waterfall is approached via a beautiful wooden bridge through a forest. There was not much water, but the place was lovely to chill and relax.

Tad Houa  Khon

The drive after this point till reaching Tayicseua village was the scariest part of the ride as there were anecdotes of bike thefts, attacks on this stretch. So we didn't stop much on the way as per the advice. The last bit of the road to the Guesthouse near the Waterfall was a dirt road with steep ups and downs, and it was getting dark, so it got a little unnerving… But we managed to reach just before dark.
There is just one guest house, almost next to Tad Tayicseua, in the middle of the forest. It has dorms and double rooms in cute bamboo cottages, priced at 50000 kip (5.5 $) per person or 100000 to 150000 per room depending on the configuration. The rooms come with all basic facilities - blanket, mosquito net and I also had the luxury of a hot shower.

The dirt road to Tad Tayicseua

Day 3:

Next morning we hiked to the most impressive waterfalls on this route - Tad Alang, Tad Jarou Halang (which is famous for a rainbow created due to water droplets and sunlight), Jarou Thalaleui and saw others from the viewpoint as some ladders were broken. There are no sign boards for all the waterfalls, but the staff of the guest house will gladly guide you using sign language, as almost nobody speaks English. I had a friendly dog guiding me to all the waterfalls. 

Jarou Thalaleui

Tad Jarou Halang

Rainbow in Tad Jarou Halang 

It was time to hit the road again and prepare for the finale of the waterfalls - the largest waterfalls were to be seen on Day 3 - Tad Fane, Tad Champi and Tad Yuang. There's also good coffee at Jhai coffee house in Paksong on the way - coffee straight from ethical farms.

Tad Yuang with a rainbow 

Tad Champi

Tad Champi from the top

Sitting on a bamboo raft in Tad Champi

Me and my German friend Ariane at Tad Yuang

Tad Yuang 

The ride back to Pakse was full of lovely memories and a great sunset. The roads were in great condition, mostly 4 Lane highway.

Sunset on the way 

We reached back to Pakse late evening…. only to find that we had no place to stay. Our advance intimation to our guesthouse was not enough to reserve a room - so some more walking around the town… We found a room for the night, had dinner and called it a day after 3 days of tiring but adventurous bike ride…. The waterfalls were every bit worth of the riding in hot sun… 

Rainbow and waterfall 

Tripura diaries- part 2: Neermahal -The Lake Palace

Neer Mahal was my second stop in Tripura. I reached Melaghar from Kamala sagar. After Lunch and some rest, I went to the famed Neer Mahal. I wanted to hire a country boat for myself but it was not available, hence went on a motor boat on a seat basis (INR 30). The palace lived up to its reputation.  Made in the traditional Tripura style architecture, in red and white, it spreads majestically in the middle of Rudrasagar lake. Since this palace was made as a summer resort by Maharaja Bir Bikram Radhakishore Manikya, it has dancing rooms, guest rooms, a ghat for boats(yes, you read it right, one could descend into a boat from inside the palace!), garden, an amphitheatre and a hawamahal.  The palace is lit up briefly after sunset for about an hour, but the light and sound show does not happen anymore. I had read earlier blogs about boating in the lake at night to see the illuminated palace, but that is not relevant anymore. So one can even plan a day trip to Neermahal from Agartala.

I stayed at Sagar Mahal tourist lodge for two days and went to Neermahal once again in a privately hired country boat- it's an experience to remember, the silent splashing of water against the oars, the gliding boat, water snakes, floating water hyacinth creating patterns on water and the setting sun painting the sky and lake in magical colours...and the conversation with the boatman to top it all….

Reaching there:

Neermahal is around 50 km from Agartala, so one can plan a day trip from Agartala. You can hire a car or take a bus or shared jeep or Tata Magic to Melaghar. These are available from the Nagerjala bus stand in Agartala. 

Since I was travelling from Kamalasagar, I took a shared jeep (INR 20) to the T junction of road from Kamalasagar and national highway (Rastar matha in local language) and then took a bus to Melaghar. The Sagar Mahal tourist lodge is around 1.5 km from the main road. You can walk or take a shared auto / cycle rickshaw for INR 10.

Accommodation: There is a tourist lodge run by Tripura state tourism, Sagar Mahal tourist lodge, overlooking the lake. I did not see any other hotels in the market.

Tips: Neermahal is a nuisance on weekends as local educational institutes and offices come here for a picnic and their whole idea is to play cheap, irritating music loudly (and this is played in the bus while the groups are away)

Pictures of Neermahal:

Night view of Neermahal

Sunset on Rudra Sagar

The boatman with Neer Mahal in the background 

Tripura diaries- part 1- Kamalasagar - a temple and the Indo-Bangladesh Border Haat

My trip to Kamalasagar starts in a shared Tata Magic and I also pay for my bag! The road condition was very bad, even within Agartala, which later gave way to a Kachcha road. I leaned against my backpack and dozed off. There are a few villages on the way who also use the shared auto as a means of transport. You will pass by paddy fields and rubber and teak plantations as you drive towards Kamalasagar. The houses are made of unbaked clay bricks and plastered further with clay mixed with Lascha flour, which makes them water resistant.

Kamalasagar was a pleasant change from the chaos of Agartala. You can see the temple just as you alight from the bys/car/auto. There are a few shops selling pooja items and Peda for offering the goddess.

The government tourist lodge - Comilla view is located just next to the temple and you can watch the lake and Bangladesh beyond it sitting at the lodge itself or go to its terrace for a better view.

The lake next to the temple is Kamalasagar, from which the place derives its name. The Bangladesh side is called Kasba- the older name still popular for Kamalasagar as well. Even the goddess is called Kasbeshwari.

A friend had advised me to stay overnight in Kamalasagar for its night view, but thats something you can give a miss. You don't see anything additional at night. However if you like spending a day and night in solitude, then this place is for you. There is an evening Aarti in temple which is quite nice, but you can return to Agartala after it if you have a private car.

Comilla view guest House is actually in no man's land - what a feeling to be in no man's land!
The temple and the lake are on Indian land but all three sides are surrounded by Bangladesh. So as you sit looking at the lake, you can see the boundary with Bangladesh.

Another interesting thing for which people from Tripura come to this place is to see a train, yes the ubiquitous train, so commonplace in the Indian subcontinent, but plying in Tripura only since 2013. One can see the Kasba railway station of Bangladesh and trains running there.

Just look at these pictures - hard to believe that it is an international border!

And looking at these the futility of imaginary lines separating people is reinforced. And I was surprised to know that illegal immigration does not happen through this border. I even witnessed Bangladeshi nationals visiting Kamalasagar to meet their relatives and return by showing an identity card.

Kamalasagar India Bangladesh border haat:

The Border Haat is a government initiative to boost the economy of border villages of both countries. There are two in Tripura - one in Srinagar in South tripura and the other one in Kamalasagar. There is a proper concrete structure in place and every Sunday shops are set up by people of Bangladesh as well as India. These shops have special permission.

Since I had missed this unique experience during my stay here, I came back from Melaghar. And ended up travelling an extra 50 minutes as I missed the cut for Kamalasagar, and did not inform the jeep driver in advance (my overconfidence of remembering the route well - actually I dozed off 😋)

There is a long queue to obtain permission to visit the border haat. Any government issued photo id is enough to obtain permission. It took me almost an hour to get the permit.

The permission slip for which I stood in a queue for an hour

Do not carry any camera or computers, they are not allowed inside and there's no locker facility available. I requested the female BSF jawan to keep my bag at the security check post. Since I told her I am travelling alone and cannot go back all the way to Melaghar, she obliged.

The atmosphere in the haat is like a carnival.

The shops on the left are from India and the ones on right are from Bangladesh

Gorgeous Bangladeshi women shopping for Indian shawls

This is me...in the Haat

Indian shoppers thronging shops selling  readymade clothes and sarees from Bangladesh

Indian shoppers in action

The shops from Bangladesh sell clothes, biscuits, namkeen, dry fish, imported fruits whereas the Indian shops sell shawls, plastic items, cosmetics, cough syrup (yes, the ones with alcohol content). I had the best bhel from a Bangladeshi vendor, crunchy and spicy-very different from the puffed rice based bhel. It's difficult to differentiate between the shops by the look. The people are easy to identify as the population is mostly Muslim and the women from that side wear burkha. I could identify the shops based on brands- sandalina and meril soap from Bangladesh and dove, ponds , dettol, fiama etch. from India. I bought some cookies, they were quite tasty and very cheap.

Reaching there: 

Kamalasagar can be done as a day trip from Agartala. You can hire a car or take public transport which is available at a good frequency.

Public transport:

You have an option to take a state transport bus, shared jeep or Tata Magic.

There are totally three bus stands in Agartala- one to go to north Tripura, one to go to south Tripura and the third for interstate buses. The buses for Kamalasagar go from Nagerjala bus stand, but they ply from outside the bus stand, just under the bridge.  I would suggest to wait a little for the bus if you want to take public transport as the road is very bad and travelling in a jeep or Tata Magic will rattle your bones and the back.

Either of these modes takes about one and a half-hour.

You can also get transport till the T-junction of national highway and Kamalasagar road and take a shared auto from there.

Food: 

There are just 2-3 shops that serve a basic meal. I opted for the govt. run cafeteria for some hygiene. The food is cheap- 80 rupees for a vegetarian meal and 100 for a non vegetarian meal. 

The government cafeteria does not serve breakfast,there's just one shop selling Puri sabji at INR15, but you might carry some dry breakfast if you plan to stay. Even tea shop opens only at 8am, which was a little surprising as the eastern India wakes early, but in this place the day starts around 10am ( I visited in mid December).