About 18km east of Ban Khoun Kham, Tha Bak sits near the confluence of the Nam Kading and Nam Theun rivers. The town itself is pretty, and pretty quiet; the real reason to stop is to take photos of the river or get out on the incredible bomb boats. The name is slightly misleading, as the boats are made out of huge missile-shaped drop tanks that carried fuel for jets operating overhead during the 1960s and '70s.
If you fancy a spin in a bomb boat just head down to the riverbank at the east end of the bridge and negotiate a price.
