Must-see attractions in Southern Laos

Bucolic Wat Phu sits in graceful decrepitude, and while it lacks the arresting enormity of Angkor in Cambodia, given its few visitors and more dramatic…

More a glorified set of rapids than a waterfall, but oh, how glorious it is. The largest and by far the most awesome waterfall anywhere along the Mekong,…

Now billing itself as the Don Khone Somphamit Waterfalls Park, vast Tat Somphamit (also called Li Phi) is a gorgeous set of raging rapids. Recent…

There are seven significant waterfalls (none of them named Tayicseua) and several smaller ones at this remote but easily accessible private nature reserve…

Tat Fan is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Laos. Twin streams plunge out of dense forest and tumble down more than 120m to form the Huay Bang…

Tat Soung is a 50m drop over the edge of the Bolaven Plateau, and though the dam has affected these falls more than the others – slowing them to a trickle…

One of the most beautiful waterfalls in Laos, Tat Sae Pha, about 40km from Attapeu, is way off the beaten track and pretty well impossible to access in…

Se Pian NPA is one of the most important protected areas in Laos. The 2400-sq-km park boasts small populations of Asiatic black bears, yellow-cheeked…

Really only of interest to dedicated bike riders, this ruin of a bridge is way off the beaten track, about 10km west of Salavan and then 10km north. The…

Three kilometres south of the Tat Faek turn-off from Rte 11 (just past the market), this waterfall is an impressive 100m wide. The P&S Garden resort,…

This spectacular waterfall was unfortunately heavily affected by the 2018 Attapeu Dam collapse. It's difficult to reach, lying about 7km north of Tat Sae…

Probably the most developed of the Bolaven Plateau waterfalls, Tat Yuang, as some signs spell it, is impressive, with its twin torrents falling about 40m…

Not to be confused with the far inferior waterfall of the same name along Rte 20 on the way to Tat Lo, this is the smallest of the four waterfalls west of…

The 1100-sq-km Dong Hua Sao NPA, south of Paksong, is home to large tracts of pristine jungle, where you might spot monkeys, large butterflies and rare…

The centrepiece of this hilltop temple across the Mekong from Pakse is the giant golden Buddha statue looking out over the city. The views from his perch…

Just 1km north of the main road (Rte 16), this is the first large waterfall you reach on the drive up from Pakse. The waterfall is beautiful, and its 40m…

This temple just past the stone carvers in Ban Don Khoh is well worth a visit, not only for its 30m-tall gold-painted Buddha but also some of the…

This vast market near the Lao–Japanese Bridge is one of the biggest in the country. It's at its most chaotic in the food zones, but just about anything a…

The highlight of this 1975-sq-km protected area in eastern Attapeu Province is the fabled Nong Fa (Sky Blue Lake). This beautiful volcanic crater lake,…

Saisettha, 11km east of Attapeu on Rte 18B, is a sizeable village on the north bank of the Se Kaman (Kaman River). It used to be a small, quiet village…