Lonely Planet Laos

by Lonely Planet

  8Getting There & Away

  Air

  The Pakse International Airport ( GOOGLE MAP ; Rte 13) is 2.5km northwest of the Souphanouvong Bridge. A tuk-tuk to/from the airport will cost about 40,000K.

  Lao Airlines ( GOOGLE MAP ; %031-212252; www.laoairlines.com; Pakse Airport; h8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Sat, 8am-7pm Sun) has direct flights to the following cities in Asia:

  AVientiane 750,000K, two daily

  ALuang Prabang 890,000K, three weekly

  ASavannakhet 320,000K, four weekly

  AAttapeu 520,000K, three weekly

  ASiem Reap US$105, four weekly

  AHo Chi Minh City US$110, two weekly

  ABangkok US$125, four weekly

  A cheaper way to fly to Bangkok is to travel overland to Ubon Ratchathani and catch a budget flight from there.

  Boat

  A tourist boat motors from Pakse to Champasak (one way per person 70,000K) at 8.30am, provided there are enough punters – in the low season there usually aren't. The return trip from Champasak is at 1.30pm. It's two hours downstream to Champasak, and a bit longer on the return. Book through any travel agent or call Mr Khamlao (%020-22705955; per boat US$80, per person for 10 people US$8).

  Bus & Sŏrngtăaou

  Pakse, frustratingly, has many bus and sŏrngtăaou (passenger truck) stations. The vast majority of tourists simply book bus journeys through their guesthouse or a travel agency, and since these are either special tourist buses that pick you up in the centre or include a free transfer to the relevant departure point, the prices are usually reasonable.

  Note that on long-distance routes (Cambodia, Vietnam and Vientiane) you'll want to be careful which company you use: choosing the wrong one could cost you several hours and cause a lot of pain. Buy your ticket from a travel agency that actually knows the details of the route, rather than a guesthouse, which probably does not.

  There are six main stations.

  Southern Bus Terminal ( GOOGLE MAP ; Rte 13) Pakse's main bus station with departures to most places. Also known as khíw lot lák pąet (8km bus terminal) because it's 8km out of town on Rte 13.

  Northern Bus Terminal ( GOOGLE MAP ; Rte 13) This is usually called khíw lot lák jét (7km bus terminal); it's – you guessed it – 7km north of town. Only for northern destinations. The English-language signs on departures are frequently wrong.

  Talat Dao Heuang (Morning Market; GOOGLE MAP ) Vans and sŏrngtăaou to nearby destinations, such as the Thai border, depart from a chaotic lot in the southeast corner of the market and also from Th 38 in front of the market.

  2km Bus Station (Sengchalern Bus Station; GOOGLE MAP ; %031-212428; Rte 13) Also known as Sengchalern station after the company that owns it, the office is in the lobby of SL Hotel, which is in front of Friendship Mall.

  King of Bus Terminal ( GOOGLE MAP ; 020-5501 2299; Th 11) Only serves night buses to Vientiane and towns along the way.

  Kiang Kai Bus Station ( GOOGLE MAP ; off Th 38) This small, hard-to-find station, in a red-and-yellow building set back well off Th 38, is 1.5km past the Japanese bridge. It's used by buses to/from Thailand, though these also use the Southern Bus Terminal.

  Vientiane & Points North

  Most travellers prefer the comfortable 'VIP' night sleeper buses to Vientiane (170,000K, 10 hours). You can book these through your guesthouse or head to the King of Bus Terminal, from where there are several nightly departures, all leaving at 8.30pm; or the 2km Bus Station, with one departure at 8pm. It's possible to take these buses to Tha Khaek (130,000K, 4½ hours) and Seno (for Savannakhet; 120,000K, three hours).

  If you prefer day travel, slower-moving ordinary air-con buses (110,000K, 12 to 14 hours) depart throughout the day from the Southern Bus Terminal, stopping to pick up more passengers at the 2km and Northern stations. These buses also go to Tha Khaek (40,000K, five hours) and Seno (60,000K, seven hours).

  Bolaven Plateau & Points East

  Transport to the Bolaven Plateau and points east consists of air-con buses from the Southern Bus Terminal and ordinary fan buses from the 2km Bus Station. The last departures to all cities are at 4pm, except for Sekong from the Southern Terminal, which is at 2.30pm. Buses to Salavan (fan/air-con 30,000/40,000K, three hours) can drop you at Tat Lo. Buses to Attapeu (fan/air-con 45,000/50,000K, 3½ to five hours) pass through Paksong (fan/air-con 15,000/20,000K, 90 minutes) and about half use the long route via Sekong (fan/air-con 35,000/40,000K, 3½ hours).

  Champasak & Si Phan Don

  Regular sŏrngtăaou leave Talat Dao Heuang for Champasak (20,000K, one hour) until noon or so – sometimes even as late as 2pm. There's also a morning tourist bus-boat combo to Champasak (55,000K, 1½ hours) offered by most travel agencies. Be sure your ticket includes the boat crossing from Ban Muang. The regular price for the boat is 10,000K per person or 30,000K if you're alone.

  For Si Phan Don, tourist buses and minivans – including pick-ups in town and boat transfer to Don Khong (70,000K, 2½ hours), Don Det (70,000K, three hours) and Don Khon (75,000K, 3¼ hours) – are most comfortable and convenient. Book these through any guesthouse or travel agent. All departures are in the morning around 8am. Note that prices fluctuate considerably on these trips over time, and also sometimes even on the north- and southbound journeys due to attempts at price fixing.

  If you want to leave later in the day, take a sŏrngtăaou from the Southern Bus Terminal to Ban Nakasang (for Don Det and Don Khon; 40,000K, 3½ hours). These depart hourly until 5pm and go via Hat Xai Khun (for Don Khong).

  One sŏrngtăaou services Kiet Ngong (30,000K, two hours), leaving at 11am.

  Neighbouring Countries

  Travelling to Cambodia is a guaranteed hassle, while entering Thailand is a breeze. Travelling to Vietnam falls in between.

  The most comfortable way to Hue (200,000K, 12 hours) and Danang (220,000K, 14 hours) in Vietnam is to catch a morning sleeper bus from the Southern Bus Terminal, which for legal reasons use the long route through the Lao Bao border east of Savannakhet. Note that these do not go every day – sometimes a regular bus goes instead and sometimes there is simply no bus. Up to three hours faster for the same price are the modern, comfortable minibuses that go via Salavan and use the Lalay border, through the drivers tend to be reckless. Then there are the slower and truly crappy cargo buses that only save a few of their seats for passengers. These make for a very uncomfortable and much longer journey. If there is no large bus, some unscrupulous travel agencies will book passengers on these buses without telling them, so be sure you know what vehicle your ticket is really for. For Kom Tun or Ho Chi Minh City you travel via the Bo Y border. Some travel agencies sell direct buses to Ho Chi Minh City (450,000K, 15 hours), but these go via the southern route so you need to buy a Cambodian visa. It takes several hours longer, but is actually much cheaper to travel to Kom Tum and take a connecting bus (240,000d) from there.

  GETTING TO THAILAND: VANG TAO TO CHONG MEK

  Getting to the border Other than finding the right counters to use at immigration, crossing at the Vang Tao (Laos)/Chong Mek (Thailand) border (open 6am to 8pm) is straightforward.

  The easiest way to get there is on the Thai-Lao International Bus (50,000K, 2½ to three hours, 8.30am and 3pm) between Pakse's Southern Bus Terminal and Ubon Ratchathani's bus station. It picks up more passengers at the little Kiang Kai Bus Station on the way. If you're travelling to Pakse (departures from Ubon at 9.30am and 3pm) note that this bus does wait long enough for people to get Lao visas.

  There are also frequent minivans from Pakse to Vang Tao (25,000K, 45 minutes) departing from the street in front of Talat Dao Heuang market and also sŏrngtăaou (passenger trucks) leaving from inside the market until about 4pm. Vans to Vang Tao also depart hourly from the Southern Bus Terminal. You'll be dropped off in a dusty/muddy parking area about 500m from the Lao immigration office.

  If you are headed to Bangkok (225,000K, 14 hours), a direct service (that sometimes involves changing buses at Ubon) departs the Southern Bus Termin
al daily at 4pm. Pakse travel agents also offer a combination bus/sleeper train ticket to the Thai capital with prices starting at 290,000K for 2nd-class fan carriages and going much higher for better service.

  At the border Laos issues visas on arrival (around US$35, depending on which passport you hold), while on the Thai side most nationalities are issued 15-day visa waivers free of charge; residents of the G7 countries get 30 days. You walk between the two countries using a pointless underground tunnel for part of the way.

  Although it seems like a scam, there is a legitimate overtime fee on the Laos side after 4pm weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays. The real scam is that the officials demand 100B even though the actual price is 10,000K. Just tell them you want a receipt and you'll pay the correct price.

  Moving on Minivans head to Ubon (100B, 1¼ hours, every 30 minutes) from Chong Mek's bus terminal, which is 600m (20B by motorcycle taxi) up the main road. Alternatively, informal taxi drivers hang around immigration and charge 1000B to anywhere in Ubon Ratchathani city.

  8Getting Around

  Bicycle

  Cycling around to the city's few sites can make for a pleasant few hours. SL Travel and Miss Noy hire bikes (15,000K to 20,000K).

  Car & Motorcycle

  Several shops and guesthouses in the tourist belt along Rte 13 rent motorbikes from 50,000K per day for 100cc bikes, rising to 100,000K for an automatic Honda Scoopy. Safe bets are Miss Noy, which has a nightly planning meeting for those heading to the Bolaven Plateau, and Pakse Travel ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-22277277; Rte 13; h7.30am-8.30pm).

  Talk to any travel agency or hotel about hiring a car with driver, which should cost about 400,000K (plus fuel) depending on where you want to go. Avis ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %031-214946; www.avis.la; Th 10; per day from US$58; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat & Sun) rents out vehicles – from compacts to SUVs – with or without drivers and can provide paperwork to allow the cars to go to neighbouring countries.

  Local Transport

  Local transport in Pakse is expensive by regional standards. Figure on about 10,000K for a short săhm-lór (three-wheels) trip (including between Talat Dao Heuang and the city centre) if you're one person – more if you're in a group or use a tuk-tuk. A ride to the Northern or Southern Bus Terminal costs 15,000K per person shared and 50,000K for a whole tuk-tuk.

  Around Pakse

  Don Kho & Ban Saphai

  The Mekong-hugging Ban Saphai (Saphai Village; ບ້ານສະພາຍ) and adjacent island of Don Kho (ດອນໂຄ) just north of Pakse are famous for their weaving. Women work on large looms underneath their homes producing silk (both real and artificial) and cotton dresses and other products, and are happy to show you how. While this is a well-known destination, it's not overrun. The rarely visited Ban Don Khoh (Don Khoh Village; ບ້ານດອນເຂາະ), not far away, does stone carving. These three destinations combine for a good half-day trip out of Pakse and cultural explorers can dig deeper with a night at Don Kho's homestay.

  Don Kho ດອນໂຄ

  There are no cars and hardly any motorcycles on this 450m-wide island and, despite the advent of electricity, it's easy to feel like you're stepping back to a simpler time. The 350 residents live along both shores on the island's northern half and farm rice in the centre. There are no traditional tourist sites on the island, though the women weaving silk under their homes welcome drop-in visitors.

  Wat Silattana Satsadalam (aka Wat Don Kho) has a manuscript hall mixing Lao and French style and a giant tree that locals dubiously claim is 500 years old. For about half the year you can walk out to some beaches and for 50,000K boatmen will take you out for a fishing trip. The 'traditional twin roof house' shown on the map at the landing is gone and it will take some bushwhacking to find the traces of the old village and the cemetery in the mostly forested southern half of the island; and if you do find them, the pay-off is very small.

  Though it's small enough to walk, there are bikes (20,000K per day) for hire. Turn left from the landing and ask at the little administration centre where you can also arrange a village homestay (per person 30,000K, per meal 20,000K).

  Believe it or not, Don Kho was briefly the capital of southern Laos following the French arrival in the 1890s. It served as a mooring point for boats steaming the Mekong River between Don Det and Savannakhet.

  Ban Saphai ບ້ານສະພາຍ

  First stop in this weaving village should be the Ban Saphai Handicraft Centre (h6am-7pm) next to the boat pier. Several weavers have their looms here and locally woven textiles and other crafts are on sale. Also, you aren't just welcomed, you're openly encouraged to visit women weaving at their homes elsewhere in the village. A map posted outside the Handicraft Centre leads you on a short walking tour to some weaving houses, an old school building at the temple, and the local market.

  Ban Don Khoh ບ້ານດອນເຂາະ

  Not to be confused with single-'H' Don Kho island to the north, little-known Ban Don Khoh (rhymes with 'law') is home to dozens of stone-carvers who mostly make Buddha images. Some basic work is done with power tools, but most of the carving is still done with hammer and chisel. They work all day every day, except when there's a ceremony at the temple or a big muay thai fight on TV.

  The workshops are in front of Wat Chompet, which has a 30m-tall Buddha image on its grounds. Ban Don Khoh proper is bit to the west along the Mekong River; so this carving community is also known as Ban Chomphet.

  8Information

  Some people at the Ban Saphai Handicraft Centre can speak some English. They will call to arrange your homestay and/or activities on Don Kho.

  The Provincial Tourism Office in Pakse can do the same.

  8Getting There & Away

  Ban Saphai is 16km north of Pakse's Souphanouvong Bridge and the turn-off is clearly signed. Sŏrngtăaou from Pakse to Ban Saphai (20,000K, 45 minutes) leave fairly regularly from the street in front of the Talat Dao Heung gate.

  From Ban Saphai to Don Kho, longtail boats cost 40,000K round trip and can hold up to five people. Set a time for pick-up, or take the boatman's phone number and call when you want to return.

  Ban Don Khoh is between Pakse and Ban Saphai, 9km from the Souphanouvong Bridge. The turn is unmarked, but it's the paved road going west just before the bus station.

  Phou Xieng Thong NPA ປ່າສະຫງວນແຫ່ງຊາດພູຊຽງທອງ

  Spread over 1200 sq km in Champasak and Salavan Provinces, Phu Xieng Thong NPA (ປ່າສະຫງວນແຫ່ງຊາດພູຊຽງທອງ ) is most accessible about 50km upriver from Pakse. The area has a sometimes other-worldly beauty with oddly eroded outcroppings and exposed sandstone ridges, some of which contain prehistoric paintings. Most of the big wildlife has been eradicated by hunting, but there are still lots of birds, including significant concentrations of green peafowl, and a diversity of wild orchids.

  The typical trip, available December to June, through Green Discovery for US$132 per person (in a group of four or more), begins in the Mekong River village of Ban Mai Singsamphan, where you will do a homestay between two days of moderately challenging trekking. A highlight is the sunset view from the top of Phu Khong (Khong Mountain). The return trip to Pakse includes a boat trip on the Mekong.

  Independent travellers are pretty much out of luck since Pakse's Provincial Tourism Office no longer arranges trips here and none of the local guides speak much English. If you get yourself to Ban Mai Singsamphan you can make it happen.

  Champasak ຈຳປາສັກ

  Pop 14,000 / %030

  It's hard to imagine Champasak (ຈຳປາສັກ) as a seat of royalty, but from 1713 until until 1946 it was just that. These days the town is a somnolent place, the fountain circle (that no longer hosts a fountain) in the middle of the main street alluding to a grandeur long since departed, along with the former royal family. Scattered French colonial-era buildings share space with traditional Lao wooden stilt houses, and the few veh
icles that venture down the narrow main street share it with chickens and cows.

  With a surprisingly good range of accommodation and several attractions in the vicinity – most notably the Angkor-period ruins of Wat Phu Champasak – it's easy to see why many visitors to the region prefer staying in Champasak over bustling Pakse.

  Just about everything in Champasak is spread along the riverside road, both sides of the fountain circle.

  Champasak

  1Top Sights

  1Shadow Puppet Theatre & Cinéma TuktukB2

  4Sleeping

  2Dokchampa GuesthouseB1

  3Khamphouy GuesthouseA2

  4Saythong GuesthouseB2

  5Eating

  5Champasak with LoveB1

  8Information

  6Champasak District Visitor Information CentreB2

  7Lao Development BankA2

  1Sights & Activities

  oShadow Puppet Theatre & Cinéma TuktukTHEATRE

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.cinema-tuktuk.org; 50,000K; h8.30-10pm Oct to Apr, shadow puppets Tue & Fri, movie Wed & Sat)

  Run by Frenchman Yves Bernard, this magical theatre next to the tourist office tells the story of the epic Ramayana using the ancient art of shadow puppets. On Wednesday and Saturday nights it screens the enchanting, Academy Award–nominated silent film Chang (1927), filmed over 18 months in the jungles of northeast Thailand by the writer and director of Hollywood's original King Kong. What makes it so great is the presence of live musicians providing the soundtrack.

  Wat Muang KangBUDDHIST TEMPLE