S1 E75 | Crossing into Pakse – Our First Days in Southern Laos

We continued our journey into Pakse, a city that is officially one of the largest in Laos but feels anything but bustling. The day began with us checking out of our guesthouse in Don Det, catching a small boat across the Mekong River, and arriving at what locals call the city center. To our surprise, it was unusually quiet, with hardly any shops or restaurants open.

Finding food turned into its own mini adventure. After half an hour of wandering, we stumbled upon a restaurant where the kind owner made us vegetarian fried rice — even though it wasn’t on the menu. Later, we stocked up on snacks from a supermarket and realized just how much cheaper things were here compared to Cambodia.

Money became another theme of the day. The Lao Kip has been heavily affected by inflation, and exchange rates kept fluctuating. While the official rate hovered around 16,000 Kip per dollar, we managed to get as much as 18,000 at a local exchange — a strange but real benefit for travelers, even though it also meant prices for locals were constantly shifting.

In Pakse, we checked into a riverside homestay called Khamphouy Guesthouse, where bamboo and wooden bungalows overlooked the Mekong. For just LAK 70,000 a night, it felt like a peaceful haven in southern Laos, and it was the perfect place to pause, reflect, and get ready for the adventures ahead.

This episode on our YouTube channel captures the raw mix of beauty, challenges, and quiet discoveries that traveling through Laos brought us. From tuk-tuks to currency quirks, simple meals to riverside sunsets, our time in Pakse reminded us that not every journey is about grand sights — sometimes, it’s about slowing down and finding meaning in the little things.