Pakse – Champasak – 4000 islands by bus or boat

There are many transportation options available from Pakse south to Champasak and the 4000 islands. Most tourists will arrive by overnight sleeper bus from Vientiane or by flight to Pakse.

If you arrive from Vientiane by night bus, you will find yourself at one of the two bus stations, depending on the bus company you use. Freedom Pass works with Chitparsong Bus company instead of Kieng Kai or Sengchaleun. Its bus station is near the river and only about 100 meters from the city center. With this in mind, if your final destination is Pakse, you won’t have to get on one of the tuk tuks waiting at the bus station. If you are arriving on your morning flight from Vientiane with prior arrangement, Xplore-Laos can arrange pickup and drop-off to the minivan that departs south to the 4,000 islands.

If you are traveling with our southern pass, there will be a representative Xplore-Laos minivan to receive you. From the bus station, you will be transferred to the Xplore-Laos office in Pakse, where you will have the opportunity to relax before continuing your departure. For those of you who don’t travel the same day. Your next departure will still be from the Xplore-Laos office in Pakse (just show up 30 minutes before your scheduled departure). Normal departures to the south leave by minivan at 8:00 am. There are several possible routes available when heading south.

1). Pakse – Champasak by boat

Leaving the pier around 8:30 am, the boat to Champasak has effectively been turned into a tourist boat as with the development of the road, the locals don’t use the river much anymore. The distance is around 35 km and it takes around 1 hour and a half downstream, all of this of course depends on the time of year. At the height of the rainy season, the weather could take less than an hour. It is a beautiful and picturesque way to get to Champasak. You can spend the day at Wat Phu and then spend a night in Champasak or even return in the afternoon by boat or car to Pakse.

two). Pakse – Champasak by minivan

Leaving at 08:00 am, you will travel with clients traveling to the 4000 islands, the distance by road is also around 35 km, the detour is at km 30 of route 13 and then it is another 4 km to Ban Muang, this is the ferry port across the Mekong River to Champasak. You will have to cross the river by boat to reach the town of Champasak. Making the trip this way you will probably also arrive at approximately the same time from 09:00 to 09:30 am.

For those of you leaving Champasak in the morning, the minivan will be waiting for you at the pier, so you will have to cross the Mekong on your own and wait where you left off the day before. Once again, with the Freedom Pass, all you do is reserve this sector online! Alternatively, Pakse – Champasak – 4000 Islands tickets can be purchased at the Xplore-Laos office in Pakse.

3). Pakse – Don Khong / Don Det / Don Khone

After a short detour to drop off / pick up customers in Ban Muang, your minivan will go directly to Don Khong from Pakse, the distance is 128 km, the road is in good condition and paved. The normal arrival time would be around 10:00 at Hat Xai Khun. Hat Xai Khun is again the ferry port in front of Don Khong and a short 5 minute boat ride will take you to the largest of the 4000 islands, Don Khong. The detour from Route 13 to Hat Xai Khun is about 800 m.

The next stop is Nakasang, this is the ferry point for the boats to Don Det / Don Khone. It is about 20 km from Hat Xai Khun to Nakasang, back south on Route 13. Once you have made the detour, it is 3 km from the detour to Nakasang. Normally the minivan arrives in Nakasang around 11:00 am. The ferry crossing takes about 20 minutes to Don Det and a little longer to Don Khone. The boat service is run by the people and can sometimes get a bit disorganized and cause unnecessary delays.

The minivan then waits at the drop off point before returning to Pakse at 12pm and returns to Pakse around 2.30pm if they are customers leaving for Champasak or to be picked up, a quick stop will be made for drop off / pick up to customers at Ban Muang Pier.