Pakse · Where to stay

The functional middle: bus offices, bike rental, banks and most of the cheap hotels and restaurants within a few blocks. Not pretty, but it is exactly where you want to be the night before you start the loop.

The riverside blocks around Residence Sisouk and the Pakse Hotel, with colonial shophouses, the rooftop view over the Sedone-Mekong junction and the town's better rooms. Ten minutes' walk from the centre.

A single quiet street along the river below Wat Phou, with guesthouses and a handful of restaurants. Worth it if you want the temple at opening time before the coaches arrive, or simply a night without traffic.

Tad Lo and the villages around Paksong sit at roughly 1,200m, cool enough to want a fleece, and they break the Bolaven loop into sensible days. Rooms are simple, power can be intermittent, and it is a cash economy.