Thakhek is the capital of Khammouane Province, a relaxed town on the Mekong River in central Laos, facing the Thai city of Nakhon Phanom across the water. The town has a pleasant colonial-era centre — French-built shophouses around a central fountain square — and a waterfront that catches a good breeze in the evenings. Most travellers arrive either for the town's relaxed ambience or as the starting point for the Thakhek Loop, one of the most celebrated motorbike routes in Southeast Asia.
The Loop covers about 450 kilometres through Khammouane Province, passing through dramatic limestone karst scenery, cave systems, jungle, and traditional villages. The highlight is Kong Lor Cave, a 7.5-kilometre river cave that can only be traversed by long wooden boat in total darkness. Highway 12, the road heading east from Thakhek toward the Vietnamese border, is known as "Cave Alley" and passes about ten caves within a short stretch.
Within easy reach of town, Tham Pa Fa (Buddha Cave) contains 229 ancient bronze Buddha statues discovered only in 2004 in a limestone cavern above a lake. The Phu Hin Boun National Protected Area to the north encompasses the karst mountains through which the Loop passes and offers serious rock climbing on limestone towers. The Khammouane Caves along Route 12 are signposted, accessible, and collectively one of the finest concentrations of cave systems in Southeast Asia.
Thakhek itself deserves a full day before setting out on the Loop: the fountain square, the morning market, the riverside views at sunset, and the generally unhurried pace of a provincial Lao town that has not yet been transformed by mass tourism.