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…
Must-see attractions in Southern Laos
Si Phan Don
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,…
Don Det & Don Khon
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
There are seven significant waterfalls (none of them named Tayicseua) and several smaller ones at this remote but easily accessible private nature reserve…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Southern Laos
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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,…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Pakse
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Southern Laos
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…
Pakse
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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,…
Bolaven Plateau Region
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…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Though it's hard to justify a trip all the way to Ta-Oy on its own, it makes a good add-on if you'd like to turn a half-day trip to Toumlan into a full…
Bolaven Plateau Region
The area east of Attapeu was an integral part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail – two main branches, the Sihanouk Trail continuing south into Cambodia and the Ho…
Southern Laos
About 5km south of town along the Mekong stands the oldest active temple in Champasak, and one of the most interesting in southern Laos. The soaring Thai…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Toumlan, 50km north of Salavan, is a slapped-together boom town with some small shops and restaurants and several oversized, out-of-place government…
Southern Laos
Spread over 1200 sq km in Champasak and Salavan Provinces, Phu Xieng Thong NPA is most accessible about 50km upriver from Pakse. The area has a sometimes…
Bolaven Plateau Region
You'll know you've arrived in this village, 24km from Tat Lo, by the 'Katu Weavers' sign or the tourists gathered around the traditional community meeting…
Champasak Historical Heritage Museum
Pakse
Highlights here include ancient bronze drums, stone carvings unearthed up on the Bolaven Plateau, stelae with Tham script dating from the 15th to 18th…
Don Det & Don Khon
Although it's not the largest waterfall on the islands, Khon Pa Soi Falls is still pretty impressive, and it never gets crowded due to its isolated…
Si Phan Don
Two kilometres north of Muang Khong a trail leads to Green Mountain Cave, a small, shallow shelter in the middle of the forest. It holds some fairly crude…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Founded over two centuries ago, this temple, 700m northeast of the market, has a very large hŏr đąi – a building dedicated to Buddhist scriptures –…
Si Phan Don
When the local governor built this two-storey French colonial–style home in 1935, he was so proud of himself that he christened it Sathanavoudthi, which…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Sixteen kilometres south of Sekong, and well-signed off Rte 11, is this wide, beautiful 5m-high waterfall where you can swim in the pool atop the falls…
Southern Laos
An easy 2km walk to the south of Wat Phu – follow the signs from near the main gate – stands Nang Sida temple, which probably dates from the middle of the…
Bolaven Plateau Region
This modest but interesting U-shaped waterfall is 2km from the highway, within the Uthayan Bajiang Nature Resort about 35km from Pakse. Hawkers sell…
Sekong Provincial Historical Museum
Bolaven Plateau Region
The first floor has just a few old stones, UXO and photos from the war years. But the tribal displays of textiles and household tools (don't miss the…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Tat Lo, about 500m upriver from Tat Hang, is a little bigger than its neighbour, but probably won't knock your socks off. To get here, walk past Saise…
Ban Hin Siew Tai Palm Sugar Trees
Si Phan Don
Although sugar palms can be seen across the island, Ban Hin Siew Tai is southern Laos' sugar capital. Many farmers here climb the trees twice a day to…
Bolaven Plateau Region
This large, elegant building holds a small collection of rural and tribal artefacts, tools such as a rice husker, models of various kinds of tribal houses…
Si Phan Don
At the northern end of Muang Khong is Wat Jom Thong, the oldest temple on the island, dating from the Chao Anou period (1805–28). The wihăhn (temple hall)…
Pakse
This modest, tin-roofed building isn't much to look at from the outside, but the one-of-a-kind paintings inside are the reason to visit. They show Jesus…
