There’s a route known as ‘the loop’ which the guide book suggests can be done by motorbike, but cautions that you may have to carry the bike some of the way. We knew that some of the roads had been improved and decided to try in the tuktuk. There’s stunning scenery to LakSao (where willy’s boots were nicked) and then through the wonderful forest of Nakai Nam Theun (another |WCS area). The 90km from Lak Sao to Nakai was a nightmare and took us over a day, but the rest of the roads were good and it was like driving through postcards.

It got dark while we were in the forest so we pulled up for the night. Some local officials tried to get us to move on but it wasn’t really feasible because the fuse had gone on the headlight. There are about 100 elephants in the forest and they could easily take on a tuk tuk, but I thought the chances of that were remote. That didn’t stop Willy lying awake hypervigilant all night.

Don’t do Lak Sao to Nakai in a tuk tuk!

The heroic driver!!