10 daysLaosAges 18–40
10 days · Vientiane, Thakhek & 4000 Islands
Laos Adventure is a 10-day group trip for solo travellers aged 18 to 40 through the wilder south of Laos. From Vientiane you ride pillion with local drivers around the karst roads and river caves of the Thakhek Loop, then head south to Pakse and the river islands of the 4,000 Islands on the Cambodian border. Your Trip Host is with the group the whole way.
Updated
From, per person
$930 / £700 / €815 / A$1,320 / CA$1,320 / NZ$1,640 / ₹89,000
Free to reserve
Sarthak's best travel memories come from going solo: hostel dorms, a new activity most days, new cultures and new food. SoloNomads grew out of that.
Sarthak travels with every group, from the first day to the last, so there's always someone on hand to sort things out when plans change and to make sure nobody gets left out.
In every country, a licensed local agency and licensed local guides look after the ground services, so you get local know-how too.
Vientiane to Pakse, 7 stops in 10 days.
7 stops
10 days
Day 1
Arrive whenever your flight lands. The Trip Host meets everyone at the guesthouse in the late afternoon for a get-to-know-you and a run-through of the trip, including a briefing on how the Thakhek Loop works. Then we walk to a riverside restaurant for a welcome dinner.
Day 2
A bus south along Route 13, about 350 km. It usually takes six to seven hours, longer on a slow service, with a stop along the way. We arrive in Thakhek in the afternoon, with time to walk along the Mekong waterfront before dinner, which is on your own. Local riders meet the group this evening to match everyone with a driver for the loop.
Day 3
You ride pillion behind a local driver, about 250 km through the limestone valleys east of Thakhek, past the riverside spots at Tha Falang and a string of villages and rice fields. It is a long day, with stops for photos and a roadside lunch. Pack a daypack for the ride, and the Trip Host will explain at the Day 2 briefing how the main bags travel. We reach the village of Kong Lor by the evening, and the rest of the night is free.
Day 4
In the morning we take a wooden boat 7.5 km through Kong Lor cave, a river tunnel through the mountain, mostly lit by headlamps. Life vests and headlamps normally come with the boat. After lunch back in the village, the riders take us on the loop's other road, about 185 km back to Thakhek, so we don't ride the same road twice.
Day 5
A free morning to rest after two days of riding. In the afternoon a bus takes us south to Pakse, about 350 km and roughly five to seven hours depending on stops. We arrive in the evening, with dinner on your own in a town known for its French-era shophouses and its coffee.
Day 6
A private minivan takes us south for about two and a half to three hours to Ban Nakasang, where a short boat crossing brings us to Don Det, one of the river islands of Si Phan Don, the 4,000 Islands. There's nothing to do here but slow down: a hammock, a swim off a sandy bank if the Trip Host says the current is gentle, or a walk along the paths between the rice fields. Dinner together as the sun goes down over the Mekong.
Day 7
We hire bicycles and ride across the old French railway bridge to Don Khon, the next island over, then on to see the Li Phi (Somphamit) falls, a churn of narrow channels and rapids. We stop for lunch by the river before riding back.
Day 8
A short boat and van ride takes us to Khone Phapheng, a wide waterfall where the Mekong splits into channels over a broad shelf of rock on its way into Cambodia. In the dry months the water is lower and more rock shows. After the rains it is at its fullest. The afternoon is free: read in a hammock, rent a kayak for a gentle paddle, or do nothing at all. In the evening the group gets together for a farewell dinner on Don Det.
Day 9
A free morning on the island before the boat and minivan back to Pakse, about two and a half to three hours. The afternoon and evening are free to explore the town, find a coffee shop, or rest before flying out.
Day 10
The trip ends after breakfast in Pakse. Pakse International Airport is a short drive from the centre, so any flight from late morning onwards works. If you're heading on to Cambodia, the Trip Host can point you to the border crossing near Don Det.
Prices are per person, and reserving is free. A date goes ahead once about 10 travellers have joined. You pay nothing until then. Once it's confirmed, we send you an invoice for the full price, and you have 7 days to pay it (or until the trip starts, if that's sooner).
21 Nov – 30 Nov 2026
AvailableEarly dry season, cooler nightsMax 16 people
Price
$930 / £700 / €815 / A$1,320 / CA$1,320 / NZ$1,640 / ₹89,000
8 Jan – 17 Jan 2027
AvailablePeak dry season, best riding conditionsMax 16 people
Price
$930 / £700 / €815 / A$1,320 / CA$1,320 / NZ$1,640 / ₹89,000
12 Feb – 21 Feb 2027
AvailableStill dry; last date before it gets hotMax 16 people
Price
$930 / £700 / €815 / A$1,320 / CA$1,320 / NZ$1,640 / ₹89,000
You reserve your spot for free and pay nothing to join. Once enough travellers have signed on, usually around 10, we confirm the departure and email you a confirmation with an invoice for the full trip price. You pay it by card or bank transfer within 7 days, in US dollars, pounds, euros, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars or Indian rupees, and the price shown for each date is what you pay.
Flights, your Laos visa, travel insurance, breakfasts and any meals not listed, bicycle and kayak hire, plus drinks and personal spending. Most people budget about US$20 to US$35 a day for extras.
Solo travellers aged 18 to 40. Most people come on their own, and some come with a friend. The maximum for each departure is shown with its dates, and it's never more than 16.
The Trip Host travels with the group for all 10 days, sorts out every transfer, ticket and check-in, and is the person you go to if anything goes wrong. On activities that need them, including the Thakhek Loop, a local guide or rider leads the way. Nothing is compulsory: tell the Trip Host if you'd rather skip an activity, so nobody waits for you.
No. You ride pillion behind a local driver. To ride legally in Laos you need a motorbike licence from home plus an International Driving Permit, and most travel insurance only pays out on a motorbike accident if the rider holds both. Few of our guests do, so nobody rides alone on this trip. You wear a helmet whenever you're on the bike. Check that your own insurance covers you as a motorbike passenger, and if you'd rather not ride at all, tell the Trip Host and we'll see what we can arrange.
It starts at our guesthouse in Vientiane in the late afternoon of Day 1, and we send the address when you book. It ends in Pakse after breakfast on Day 10. Fly into Vientiane (VTE), usually via Bangkok, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, and book your way home from Pakse (PKZ) for any time from late morning on Day 10.
November to March is the best time: dry, and the rivers and roads are at their easiest. We don't run this trip from April, when the south gets very hot, or in the rainy season from about May to October, when the loop's dirt sections and the river crossings get harder.
Most passports need a visa for Laos: either a visa on arrival at Vientiane or Pakse airport or an eVisa bought before you go from the official site, laoevisa.gov.la. You also fill in the free Lao Digital Immigration Form online in the 3 days before you arrive. Rules change, so read our Laos visa guide before you book flights.
Simple guesthouses in Vientiane, Thakhek and Pakse, a basic guesthouse in the village at Kong Lor, and river bungalows on Don Det. These are the most comfortable rooms this part of Laos has, but they're simpler than our northern trips. You share a twin room with travellers of the same gender. Tell us about any vegetarian, vegan or allergy needs when you book: Lao food is easy to adapt, and the included lunches and dinners can be arranged around most diets.
A soft bag or backpack rather than a suitcase, since space on and around the bike is limited, plus a daypack for the riding days. Bring closed shoes for riding, a light rain jacket, a swimsuit for Don Det, a head torch for the Kong Lor cave, a refillable water bottle and a dry bag or waterproof phone pouch for the boat days. Your passport needs at least six months' validity and two blank pages.
Yes, it's a condition of joining. It must cover medical treatment and evacuation, because serious cases in southern Laos are usually moved to hospitals in Thailand or Vientiane, and it must cover you as a motorbike passenger. Check that it covers this before you book.
Averagely fit. You don't need riding experience to go pillion, but two long days on the back of a motorbike over some rough roads is tiring, and there's a fair amount of walking and cycling on the islands. You need to be comfortable in the water for the Kong Lor cave boat. Unexploded ordnance from the Indochina wars is still in the ground across southern Laos, including near the Thakhek Loop, so stay on the road and on marked paths and never pick up old metal objects. The US CDC also recommends antimalarial tablets for Khammouane and Champasak, so see a travel clinic at least eight weeks before you go.
Ask here and someone on the team will email you back within 1 to 2 business days.
From
$930 / £700 / €815 / A$1,320 / CA$1,320 / NZ$1,640 / ₹89,000