Picture above: on the Thakhek Motorcycle Loop, right after taking motorbikes through Kong Lor Cave on motorised canoes and ready to tackle the shorter, partially-unpaved route back to Thakhek

General considerations

During peak season, 100 or more people may start the Thakhek loop and the Bolaven loop every day. Many (maybe most) have never ridden a motorbike before. Many have no motorcycle licence — no motorbike rental company in Laos that I know of will ask for licence. The vast majority of people (including me) have a great time and no problems. But a few do not. This page will help you decide whether to do it and will help you minimise your risk if you do.

First, understand that your health insurance will not cover you for accidents if (a) motorbiking is defined by your policy as a high-risk and excluded activity, OR (b) you do not have a motorcycle licence. If either of those is true, then your health insurance is void when you’re driving a motorbike. And even if you’re insured, medical care in Laos is pretty primitive. On the other hand, is motorbiking on Laos’ very-lightly-travelled back roads more dangerous than, say, hiking on a slippery cliffside trail with no safety barriers, or any number of other common activities in Laos? Probably not. A certain tolerance for lower health & safety standards is necessary to travel in the developing world.

The risk of a police fine while motorbiking in Laos: The vast majority of Lao police will leave you alone unless you do something dangerous. But on several street corners in Vientiane, on one in Thakhek and a very few others around the country, cops stop almost every foreigner driving a motorbike, and demand money. These corners are few in number, and well known — in most places you can easily avoid them, but in Vientiane there are enough that I would stick to bicycles or tuk-tuks there. In Thakhek, Nico who does the nightly Thakhek Loop briefing at La Casa Hostel will show you the corner that you must avoid, and your motorbike rental place should do so also. If you forget, and drive by that corner, you will get stopped, and you‘ll pay a fine — usually 100,000 kip / $5.90. Motorcycling without a licence is illegal in Laos, so they might get you for that. But more often they don’t even check for a licence, they fine you for things such as “your mirror is at the wrong angle”. So having a licence or not is a real issue for medical insurance, but it doesn’t really make a difference vis-a-vis law enforcement. (I’m not aware of any bribery traps in Luang Prabang, Pakse, or Nong Khiaw.)

How to minimise risk

Before coming to Laos, I was a highly experienced bicyclist, I knew how to drive a manual transmission car, and I had ridden a moped a few times. But I had never driven a motorbike before. I did it several times in Laos and I really enjoyed it. The only time I had any trouble is when I failed to follow the rules below. Here’s how to have a great experience:

ALWAYS wear a helmet, long trousers, and closed-toed shoes. All rental agencies offer helmets at no extra cost with your rental – besides making sure the helmet fits, inspect it for any cracks. When you park the motorbike, you can usually just hang your helmet on the mirror -- helmets provided by rental agencies are too ordinary to interest thieves. But if you bring your own new, expensive helmet with you from abroad, then leaving it sitting on the bike might be a bad idea.

Watch out for the endless potholes and frequent sand on the roads. Sand is a cheap way of filling in Laos’ endless big, fat potholes. It’s a cheap and unstable solution. The sand quickly gets spread across the road, which is a hazard for motorbikers, especially when wet. And even when the freshly-placed sand is still in the pothole, it won’t hold your weight so well, so drive around it if possible.

When you park your motorbike, always lock the bike and always pay for parking if there is an attendant you can pay. Don’t do something stupid like park across the street from a paid parking lot, so you can park for free – your bike will be gone in 5 minutes. If there is no paid parking and no parking attendant, then park in a very public place so that anyone who tries to hammer the lock off your bike will attract attention. In early 2023, parking usually cost me 5,000-10,000 kip (currently $0.30 - $0.60). Note: there have been reports of motorbike rental companies in Vientiane stealing the bikes of their customers (easy to do, since they have spare keys to the bike and the lock, and you’ve probably given them your guesthouse address) and then charging their customers a $1,000 fine. I have no idea how many times this has actually happened, if at all. It definitely will NOT happen if you rent from well-known, reputable companies like MIss Noy in Pakse, or Mixay or Mad Monkey in Thakhek. I don’t know the motorbiking companies in Vientiane personally - it’s not a city where I enjoy spending time, and when there I prefer to get around by bicycle. Ask around. Consider bringing your own lock from home ( a simple small padlock is all you need), and make sure to photograph the bike’s licence plate number.

Buy good travel insurance. Even if you have no motorcycle licence and can’t get covered while driving, have your policy number and the emergency contact number with you on your trip. You might get injured while not on your bike, and your main backpack will be stored in the offices of your motorbike rental company — you’ll only have your daypack with you. So you should have your insurance information printed out where you or others can easily find it.

Get a semi-automatic transmission. A manual transmission is unnecessarily complicated, especially when starting out on an uphill. But a fully automatic is dangerous, because you don’t always know what gear you’re in, so you can’t always accurately predict how the bike will react when you rev the engine. More critically, it’s a lot harder to slow down an automatic transmission when going downhill, which is when most accidents occur. A semi-automatic is the best option.

Get a small engine, maximum 125 cc. When you are new to motorbiking, it’s too easy to lose control of a big engine. That makes it a big danger to you and to the people around you.

As an amateur, I really liked the Honda Wave, which is easy to find all over Laos. It’s hard to go faster than 65-70 kph, but most of the time you’ll want to go more slowly anyway, to enjoy the scenery. The gearing is very low, which is helpful on steep inclines and muddy stretches.

Rent from a reliable provider, such as Miss Noy in Pakse, or Mixay in Thakhek. The bike should be relatively new (check the mileage) and in excellent condition. Don’t try to save a few dollars by renting an old, unsafe, unreliable bike from (for example) Wang Wang in Thakhek — if you’re lucky, the inevitable breakdowns will only waste several hours or days of your time, but you might also get hurt.

The people I met who had an accident all made the same mistake. As they started down a hill, they didn’t slow down immediately. Then when the road turned (as it always does going down a hill), they suddenly had to brake and shift gears when already turning. If your wheels hit ANY sand or stones, you will wipe out. You must brake and downshift BEFORE you start turning. So, as soon as you start downhill, SLOW DOWN.

Always motorbike as part of a WhatsApp group, and get a Lao SIM card for your phone. You don’t have to stick together all day while riding – in fact, you really shouldn’t do that, because different people will want to see different things at a different pace. But if you get a flat tyre (which you probably will at some point) or have a breakdown, or get injured, or even just forget to check your fuel gauge and run out of gas, you want to be able to call someone who speaks your language and will help. And, being in a group guarantees familiar faces when you arrive at your hostel or guesthouse at night. Laos is possibly THE best country in the world for solo travellers — creating or joining a WhatsApp group won’t be difficult. For the Bolaven and Pakse loops, you can find a group at the excellent free briefings given every evening at Miss Noy’s in Pakse (for Bolaven) and La Casa Hostel in Thakhek (for Thakhek).

Daily rental rates vary from place to place. In January 2023 I got a good bike from Miss Noy’s in Pakse for 100,000 kip ($5.90) per day. In Thakhek, Mixay charged me 130,000 ($7.65). In Luang Prabang, the cheapest I could find was 150,000 kip ($8.80) per day. From all of these companies I got good, fairly new bikes in excellent condition. Fuel costs about $1.20 per litre - the price in kip will move with the exchange rate. I generally got about 50 km per litre of fuel (120 miles per US gallon).

Every motorbike rental company in Laos will keep your passport during your rental, as a guarantee that you will return the motorbike. So bring a photocopy of your passport to carry while driving. All guesthouses on the Thakhek and Bolaven motorcycle loops understand this, and they won’t ask for your original passport when you check in. Elsewhere in Laos, if you explain the situation and show them the photocopy, that should be good enough. If you REALLY want to keep your passport, the rental company may accept a $1,000 cash or (maybe) credit card deposit for the motorbike instead.

For a detailed description of the Bolaven and Thakhek motorcycle loops, click on either of these links: Bolaven Thakhek