Bus Terminal (photos)

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Built especially for international buses to Vietnam (Route 18B to Bo Y) and Cambodia (Route 13 South), this station is called the southern bus terminal. I have no idea what the locals call it, those who don't speak English.

I used it twice in 2009. A native said the bus station is poorly promoted in the media although there had been great fanfare when it opened. So a lot of Pakse people, the city being 8 kilometers away, claim to know next to nothing about it.

English is spoken at the V.I.P. bus-booking window and bus schedules are posted in Lao and English -- quite efficient.

It was built after the 2006 satellite photos were posted on WikiMapia.

Bus terminal phone numbers are:

(856) 31-251508
(856) 31-212981
(856) 31-212428

The photos were taken on 15 August 2009, when I was en route to Vietnam via Attapeu. The 4.5 hour Pakse-Attapeu leg cost approximately US$5. Of course the bus was a piece of junk, but it got me there (the buses are family owned, BTW). It always amazes me that Lao mechanics know how to keep these rust buckets running.

5-star tourists are not taking this route, of course. But it is beautiful, particularly Attapeu to the Lao-Vietnamese border, which is essentially uninhabited wilderness, and this is the only way you can get to it.

From Pakse to Kontum, which can be done in a day (approx. 8 hours road time by car, 12 hours road time by bus), a private car and driver would have run US$400 -- I looked into it several times.

Attapeu bus place:

wikimapia.org/#lat=14.8057121&lon=106.8371487&z=16&l=0...

Above entries and photos by J. Michener.