19 July 2016, Tuesday. I left Thakhek at around 8am this morning, and had planned on arriving Pakse by 2pm – which should give me some time to get a room and perhaps explore the area.
![Today's route - Thakhek to Pakse. I'm heading south!](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thakhek-to-Pakse.png)
But the roads in southern Loas are…. REALLY GOOD! Long and straight, seemingly endless roads of decently good quality (actually FANTASTIC by Laos’ standards!) see me doing triple-digit speeds for the FIRST TIME in a very long while! Northern Laos’ roads are typically mountain snake passes. Before that, I was in Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai with a newly rebuilt engine, and running-in procedures forbid me to reach those speeds. And of course, there was a 8-day downtime when my Pulsar was being repaired in Chiang Mai. And before that, of course, I was doing the Mae Hong Son loop – hardly any opportunity to do triple-digit speeds. So yeah – I missed long stretches of good roads.
So not surprisingly, I reached Pakse earlier than expected, and I found a hotel in town. With accommodation secured, I went for lunch, and then headed back to my room for a short nap before heading out to explore the area.
![Vat Phou is a ruined Khmer Hindu temple dating back as early as the 5th century.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8081.jpg)
![Vat Phou.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8077.jpg)
![Vat Phou against the evening sky.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8078.jpg)
![This path leads to a really steep climb.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8082.jpg)
![The view from the top.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8084.jpg)
![Locals praying.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8089.jpg)
![The temple, or what's left of the temple at the top of the hill.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8091.jpg)
![Buddha statue and locals praying inside the temple.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8101.jpg)
![Another view of Vat Phou glistening from the setting sun.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8102.jpg)
![Another prayer site.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8096.jpg)
![I'm pretty certain these are not ancient structures, but recent tourist-created ones.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8093.jpg)
![Part of Vat Phou undergoing reconstruction / restoration works.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8104.jpg)
![Some feeble attempts by tourists in helping out with the restoration works.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8098.jpg)
![On my way back, I spotted this eerie looking seemingly-abandoned building.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8107.jpg)
![Dinner at Sabaidee Pakse Restaurant...and some online research because good internet WiFi is so hard to come by here in Laos.](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_8108.jpg)