(ວັດເມືອງກາງ, Wat Phuthawanaram MAP GOOGLE MAP )
About 5km south of town along the Mekong stands the oldest active temple in Champasak, and arguably the most interesting in southern Laos. The soaring Thai-style ubosot (ordination hall), with its red-tiled roof and ring of pillars, will be the first thing to catch your eye, but up close the star is the hǎw tąi (Tripitaka library), which combines elements of Lao, Chinese, Vietnamese and French-colonial architecture.
The damaged, but still beautiful, tower supposedly holds Buddha images and, if you ask some locals, it has another magical purpose: in the middle of the night, a mystic light beam comes from across the river, bounces through a kâew (crystal) and alights atop Sri Lingaparvata, the holy mountain above Wat Phu Champasak.
Almost all families in Muang Kang village weave bamboo sticky rice and various other baskets.
It's easy enough to reach Wat Muang Kang: head out of Champasak on the riverside road and continue south on the dirt road where the main road turns towards Wat Phu. Coming back, if you're on a bike or motorcycle, you can follow the pleasant narrow path directly on the riverfront for part of the way.
Champasak SpaSPA
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-56499739; www.champasak-spa.com; massages 90,000-160,000K; h10am-noon & 1-7pm, closed Mon Apr-Oct, all of Jun)S
Run by Nathalie, this is a fragrant oasis of free tea and sensitively executed treatments using locally grown and sourced organic bio products. And it creates jobs for local women. The spa also offers yoga and free morning meditation sessions (you must book ahead). A full-day spa package (reservations required) comprising facial, body scrub, hair spa, massage and lunch costs 550,000K.
FORMER PALACES
The two standout white buildings 300m south of the fountain circle are Champasak's most enduring reminders of its distant glory. The large 1952 building was the palace of Chao Boun Oum ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) (the king's younger brother) while one street over is Chao Ratsadanai's residence ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ), a faded 1926 French Colonial palace for his father. Distant relatives of the king still own them today.
4Sleeping
Dokchampa GuesthouseGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-55350910; r with fan/air-con 50,000/200,000K; aW)
Porches in front of all rooms, a well-placed restaurant along the river, a helpful English-speaking owner and a good mellow vibe make this one of Champasak's best choices. The fan rooms are typical, though we have no clue what they were thinking when building glass-walled bathrooms in the recently renovated air-con rooms. There are big discounts in the low season.
Saythong GuesthouseGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-22206215; [email protected]; r with fan/air-con 50,000/120,000K; aW)
One of the first guesthouses in town, this friendly place has received a remodel and is now very good value. The restaurant occupies a pleasant perch over the Mekong.
Anouxa GuesthouseGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %031-511006; r with fan 60,000K, with air-con 100,000-200,000K; aW)
Set amid tall trees (some of them holding hammocks) and trilling birdsong a bit north of the action, Anouxa has ageing but good rooms with private bathroom, mosquito nets, Hmong tapestries and balconies. The air-con rooms have porches looking out to the river and the best room is perched out almost directly over the water. There's also a good riverside restaurant, and bike and motorcycle hire.
oInthira Champasak HotelBOUTIQUE HOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %031-511011; www.inthira.com; r incl breakfast US$44-71; naW)
The belle of the river, Inthira's 14 rooms are a mix of old and new, but all ooze charm and induce relaxation. And all have little touches of luxury – wooden floors, ambient lighting, flat-screen TVs, safes and rain showers – that set them apart from the in-town competition.
oRiver ResortRESORT$$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-56850198; www.theriverresortlaos.com; garden villas US$120-130, riverview villas US$160-170; naWs)
The 15 duplex villas (12 riverfront and three set back along a pond and rice paddies) are outfitted with gargantuan beds, indigenous wall hangings, indoor-outdoor showers, and big balconies with five-star views. It has a pair of pools, Thai and Lao massage, a beautiful restaurant, and runs upscale excursions by boat (the sunset trip is fantastic) and other means.
5Eating
Nakorn RestaurantLAOTIAN, INTERNATIONAL$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains 20,000-52,000K; h7.30am-9.30pm; Wv)
This Lao-Belgian owned spot on the river a tad south of Inthira is a pleasant melange of classy and casual. The small mixed menu covers duck láhp to chicken green curry to tuna sandwiches, and there is plenty of good local advice available. Guest rooms are on the way.
Champasak with LoveTHAI, LAOTIAN$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %030-9786757; mains 20,000-40,000K; h9am-10pm; Wv)
The marvellous riverfront patio shaded by a big old ficus tree is alone worth a visit, but the food and service are also good. It has the biggest menu in town, with mostly Thai food but also Lao standards and good brownies, fruit salad, sandwiches and breakfasts. The basic and way-overpriced guestrooms (r with fan/air-con 60,000/100,000K) in the creaky old house have shared bathrooms.
Inthira Hotel RestaurantLAOTIAN, INTERNATIONAL$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains 25,000-65,000K; h7am-10pm; Wv)
Inthira's sumptuous low-lit restaurant offers a compelling reason to linger longer in Champasak. Based in a beautifully renovated Chinese shophouse, the menu spans mushroom láhp to its creative yellow curry pizza.
8Information
Internet Access
Internet & Copy ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; per min 250K; h7am-6pm) About 150m south of the Inthira Hotel.
Money
Lao Development Bank ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h8.30am-3.30pm Mon-Fri) Has an ATM, changes cash and does Western Union.
Tourist Information
Champasak District Visitor Information Centre ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-97404986; h8am-noon & 2-4.30pm Mon-Fri, also open weekends Sep-Apr) Can arrange boats to, and accommodation on, Don Daeng. Local guides, some of whom speak English, lead day walks around Wat Phu and can accompany you to Uo Moung. You can also arrange boats to Uo Moung here (400,000K), taking in Don Daeng and Wat Muang Kang.
8Getting There & Away
Champasak is 30km from Pakse along a beautiful, almost empty sealed road running along the west bank of the Mekong. Sŏrngtăaou to Pakse (20,000K, one hour) depart only in the morning, up to around 8am. There are also the tourist buses and boats direct to/from Pakse, but they don't run often due to lack of demand.
The regular morning tourist buses from Pakse to Champasak (55,000, 1½ hours) are actually the buses heading to Si Phan Don and these drop you at Ban Muang on the eastern bank of the Mekong where a small ferry (10,000K per person, 20,000K for motorbikes) crosses to the village of Ban Phaphin just north of Champasak. Be sure you know whether your ticket includes the ferry or not. (The ferrymen won't rip you off over this, but some of the ticket agents in Pakse have been known to.) None of the tickets include the final 2km into Champasak, so you'll probably need to walk it.
To reach Si Phan Don, you can also use the Ban Muang ferry route, take a direct morning minibus (70,000K, three hours) if there are enough passengers, or travel by boat. The later costs US$200 private, but the Champasak District Visitor Information Centre will know if others are interested in sharing the cost.
8Getting Around
All guesthouses rent bicycles (10,000K to 20,000K per day) and a few, including Vong Paseud ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %031-920038; r with fan 30,000-50,000K, air-con 100,000K; aW) and Khamphouy ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %030-9995866; r with fan 50,000-60,000K, with air-con 120,000K; aW), also have motorbikes (from 70,000K).
MUANG KAO ເມືອງເກົ່າ
Under the palm trees and rice paddies 3km east of Champasak town are the remains of a city that was, about 1500 years ago, the capital of the Mon-Khmer Chenla kingdom. The site is known today as Mua
ng Kao (ເມືອງເກົ່າ MAP GOOGLE MAP ) (Old City), but scholars believe it was called Shrestapura.
Aerial photographs show the remains of a rectangular city measuring 2.3km by 1.8km, surrounded by double earthen walls on three sides and protected on the east by the Mekong River. Other traces of the old city include small baray (a Khmer word meaning 'artificial body of water'), the foundations for circular brick monuments, evidence of an advanced system of irrigation, various Hindu statuary and stone carvings, stone implements and ceramics. The sum of all this is an extremely rare example of an ancient urban settlement in Southeast Asia, one whose design reveals how important religious belief was in the workings of everyday life.
The origin of the city remained a mystery until Southeast Asia's oldest Sanskrit inscription was discovered here. The 5th-century stele stated the city was founded by King Devanika and was then called Kuruksetra and also mentions the auspicious Sri Lingaparvata nearby, a clear reference to the mountain near Wat Phu Champasak. 'Honoured since antiquity', the mountain was believed to be the residence or the manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva, and even today local people honour the mountain as the place of Phi Intha (the soul or protecting spirit of the mountain).
By the end of the 5th century the city was thriving. It continued as a major regional centre until at least the 7th century, as shown by two Nandi (Shiva's bull mount) pedestal sculptures discovered in 1994–95 bearing inscriptions by King Citrasena-Mahendravarman, the 'conqueror' who later shifted the kingdom's capital to Sambor Prei Kuk in central Cambodia. Archaeological material suggests the city was inhabited until the 16th century.
Ongoing research by Dr Patrizia Zolese and her team has revealed that a second city was built near Wat Phu after the 9th century. She believes the Hong Nang Sida (ໂຮງນາງສີດາ MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h8am-4.30pm) was at the centre of this city, which was probably Lingapura, a place mentioned in many ancient inscriptions but which has not been categorically identified by modern scholars.
Around Champasak
Don Daeng ດອນແດງ
Stretched out like an old croc sunning itself in the middle of the Mekong, Don Daeng (ດອນແດງ) is a little like an island that time forgot. It's classic middle Mekong, with eight villages scattered around its edge and rice fields in the middle. The small and mostly shaded tracks that run along the edge and across the heart of the 8km-long island are mercifully free of cars – bicycles, dok dok (mini tractor) and a few motorcycles are all the transport that's required.
About the only thing that qualifies as a sight is a ruined ancient brick stupa, presumed to be from the days of Wat Phu Champasak, at the forest temple in the middle of the island. There are plenty of beaches for swimming (only if you are a strong swimmer, the current can be deceptive) but women should wear sarongs and shirts when they bathe, not bikinis.
Around Champasak
1Top Sights
1Wat Phu ChampasakA3
1Sights
2Ban Nong BeungD3
3Chao Boun Oum's PalaceB1
Chao Ratsadanai's ResidenceB1
4Hong Nang SidaA3
5Muang KaoB2
6Uo MoungC3
7Wat Muang KangB3
2Activities, Courses & Tours
Champasak SpaB1
4Sleeping
8Anouxa GuesthouseB1
9Hua Don Daeng Village LodgeB1
10Inthira Champasak HotelB2
11La Folie LodgeB2
12River ResortB1
Vong Paseud GuesthouseB2
5Eating
Inthira Hotel RestaurantB2
Nakorn Restaurant
8Information
Internet & Copy
4Sleeping
Hua Don Daeng Village LodgeGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-55275277; per person 30,000K)
Hua Don Daeng village, at the island's northern tip, has a small, simple community lodge with two mattress-on-the-floor rooms and also offers genuine homestays. For both options, local meals (20,000K to 30,000K) are prepared by the villagers who also hire bikes (20,000K). Either call to book or arrange a stay through the visitor centre in Champasak.
oLa Folie LodgeRESORT$$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %030-5347603; www.lafolie-laos.com; d/villas incl breakfast low season US$90/$500, high season US$170/$600; naiWs)S
Set on the riverbank facing Wat Phu, La Folie makes the most of the views. The gorgeous wooden bungalows have lots of attention to detail (except for the thin walls), including Lao textiles, colonial motifs and polished wood floors, while the atmospheric poolside restaurant includes a wide selection of Lao and international dishes. Boat transfer and use of bikes is included in the price.
La Folie supports community projects on Don Daeng, including renovation of the village health centre.
8Getting There & Away
To get to Don Daeng from Champasak, hire a boat (ostensibly fixed at 50,000K one way, but a return journey could be cheaper) through your guesthouse or the visitor information centre. If you can communicate what you want, you can do it for cheaper (perhaps 30,000K one way with negotiation) from Muang Kao, south of Champasak (the landing is just north of the bridge), or Ban Muang on the Mekong's east bank.
8Getting Around
Both of the lodges on Don Daeng have bikes, but if you're not spending the night it's best to bring your own from Champasak since there are few.
Wat Phu World Heritage Area ວັດພູຈຳປາສັກ
A visit to the ancient Khmer religious complex of Wat Phu (ວັດພູຈຳປາສັກ) is one of the highlights of any trip to Laos. Stretching 1400m up the slopes of Phu Pasak (also known more colloquially as Phu Khuai or Mt Penis), Wat Phu is small compared with the monumental Angkor-era sites near Siem Reap in Cambodia. However, you know the old adage about location, location, location! The tumbledown pavilions, ornate Shiva-lingam sanctuary, enigmatic crocodile stone and tall trees that shroud much of the walkway in soothing shade give Wat Phu an almost mystical atmosphere. These, and a layout that is unique in Khmer architecture, led to Unesco declaring the Wat Phu complex a World Heritage Site in 2001.
An electric cart shuttles guests from the ticket office area past the baray (ceremonial pond; nǎwng sá in Lao). After that, you must walk.
History
Sanskrit inscriptions and Chinese sources confirm the site has been a place of worship since the mid-5th century. The temple complex was designed as a worldly imitation of heaven and fitted into a larger plan that evolved to include a network of roads, cities, settlements and other temples. What you see today is the product of centuries of building, rebuilding, alteration and addition, with the most recent structures dating from the late-Angkorian period.
At its height, the temple and nearby city formed the most important economic and political centre in the region, though there is still much to uncover, both figuratively and literally, about the way the ancients lived. Years of work by the Italian Archaeological Mission and the inimitable Dr Patrizia Zolese – the leading expert on Wat Phu, who has been working at the site since 1990 – have documented sites spread over a 400-sq-km region around the 84-hectare main site.
1Sights
Wat Phu is situated at the junction of the Mekong plain and Phu Phasak, a mountain that was sacred to the Austro-Asiatic tribes living in this area centuries before the construction of any of the ruins now visible.
South of Wat Phu are three small Angkor-era sites in poor condition that will mainly interest die-hard fans of Khmer architecture. Each stands beside the ancient road to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. On the opposite bank of the Mekong, Uo Moung is also thought to be related to Wat Phu and is encompassed by the Wat Phu Unesco World Heritage Site.
oWat Phu ChampasakRUINS
(ວັດພູຈຳປາສັກ MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 50,000K; hsite 8am-6pm, museum to 4.30pm)
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 natural setting, these small Khmer ruins evoke a more soulful response. While some buildings are more than 1000 years old, most date from the 11th to 13th centuries. The site is divided into six terraces on three levels joined by a frangipani-bordered stairway ascending the mountain to the main shrine at the top.
Visit in the early morning for cooler temperatures and to capture the ruins in the best light.
Lower Level
The electric cart takes you past the great baray (ceremonial pond; nǎwng sá in Lao) and delivers you to the large sandstone base of the ancient main entrance to Wat Phu. Here begins a causeway-style ceremonial promenade lined by stone lotus buds and flanked by two much smaller baray that still fill with water, lotus flowers and the odd buffalo during the wet season.
Middle Level
Wat Pu's middle section features two exquisitely carved quadrangular pavilions built of sandstone and laterite. Believed to date from the mid-10th or early 11th century, the style resembles Koh Ker in Cambodia. The buildings consist of four galleries and a central open courtyard. Wat Phu was converted into a Buddhist site in later centuries but much of the original Hindu sculpture remains in the lintels, which feature various forms of Vishnu and Shiva.
A good example is the eastern pediment of the north pavilion, which is a relief of Shiva and Parvati sitting on Nandi, Shiva's bull mount.
Next to the southern pavilion stands the much smaller Nandi Hall (dedicated to Shiva's mount). It was from here that an ancient royal road once led over 200km to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. In front is a smaller version of the initial causeway, this one flanked by two collapsed galleries, leading to a pair of steep staircases.
Lonely Planet Laos Page 40
