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Laos

Vivid nature, voluptuous landscapes and a vibrant culture collide with a painful past and optimistic future to make Laos an enigmatic experience for the adventurous.

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Experience the real

　　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, Khon Phapheng is pure, unrestrained aggression, as millions of litres of water crash over the rocks. While pricier than the similar Tat...

Must-see attractions

　　The most frequently used grounds in Vientiane are those of Wat Si Muang, the site of the lák méuang (city pillar), which is considered the home of the guardian spirit of Vientiane. The large sǐm (ordination hall; destroyed in 1828 and rebuilt in 1915) was constructed around the lák méuang,...

Kaysone Phomvihane Museum

　　Opened in 1995 to celebrate the late president's 75th birthday, the Kaysone Phomvihane Museum serves as a tribute to Indochina's most pragmatic communist leader. The museum is a vast Vietnamese-style celebration of the cult of Kaysone, a cult he himself never encouraged. 　　The museum is impossible to miss, with its...

　　Built between 1819 and 1824 by Chao Anou, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Vientiane, Wat Si Saket is believed to be the city's oldest surviving wat. And it is starting to show, as this beautiful temple is in need of a facelift. Along the western side of the...

Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial

　　The former home of Kaysone Phomvihane, the first leader of an independent Laos, has been made into this quirky but worthwhile museum. 　　The house is inside the former USAID/CIA compound, known as 'Six Klicks City' because of its location 6km from central Vientiane. It once featured bars, restaurants, tennis courts,...

　　Located 25km southeast of central Vientiane, eccentric Xieng Khuan, aka Buddha Park, thrills with other-worldly Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, and was designed and built in 1958 by Luang Pu, a yogi-priest-shaman who merged Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, mythology and iconography into a cryptic whole. It's a bizarre, delightfully dilapidated compound...

　　Svelte and golden Pha That Luang, located about 4km northeast of the city centre, is the most important national monument in Laos – a symbol of Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty. Legend has it that Ashokan missionaries from India erected a tâht (stupa) here to enclose a piece of Buddha's...

COPE Visitor Centre

　　Laos has the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country on earth, and although the American War in neighbouring Vietnam ended more than 40 years ago, unexploded ordnance (UXO) continues to wound and kill people. COPE (Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise) is the main source of artificial limbs, walking...

　　Visiting this professionally presented three-room museum is a must to learn about northern Laos' various hill-tribe cultures, especially if you're planning a trek. There's just enough to inform without overloading a beginner, including a range of ethnic costumes and the permanent exhibition, 'Seeds of Culture: From Living Plants to Handicrafts'....

　　Evoking traditional Lao and French beaux-arts styles, the former Royal Palace was built in 1904 and was home to King Sisavang Vong (r 1904–59), whose statue stands outside. Within are tasteful, decidedly sober residential quarters, with some rooms preserved much as they were when the king's son (and successor) was...

Heuan Chan Heritage House

　　Footpaths lead back from the commercial main drag into a little oasis of palm-shaded calm around Heuan Chan, an authentic traditional longhouse on tree-trunk stilts that acts as a small museum on the lifestyle of Luang Prabang, a cafe, handicraft centre and more. There are also cooking classes to learn...

Green Jungle Park

　　Thirty-two kilometres west of the city, this slice of natural paradise reclaimed from a rubbish dump uses the forest and a stunning cascade as its backdrop for a spectacular cat's cradle of ziplines (900m), monkey bridges and rope courses. Also here are a cafe, flower gardens and natural swimming pools,...

Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham

　　Wat Mai is one of the city's most sumptuous monasteries, its wooden sǐm (ordination hall) sporting a five-tiered roof in archetypal Luang Prabang style, while the unusually roofed front veranda features detailed golden reliefs depicting scenes from village life, the Ramayana and Buddha's penultimate birth. It was spared destruction in...

UXO Laos Information Centre

　　The sobering UXO Laos Information Centre helps you get a grip on the devastation Laos suffered in the Second Indochina War and how nearly 40 years later death or injury from unexploded ordnance (UXO) remains an everyday reality in several provinces. If you miss it here, there's a similar centre...

　　Dominating the old city centre and a favourite with sunset junkies, the 100m-tall Phu Si (prepare your legs for a steep 329-step ascent) is crowned by a 24m gilded stupa called That Chomsi. Viewed from a distance, especially when floodlit at night, the structure seems to float in the hazy...

Wat Xieng Thong

　　Luang Prabang's best-known monastery is centred on a 1560 sǐm (ordination hall). Its roofs sweep low to the ground and there's a stunning 'tree of life' mosaic set on its western exterior wall. Close by are several stupas and three compact little chapel halls called hŏr. Hŏr Ɖąi, shaped like...

Latest stories from Laos

　　Thirty kilometres southwest of Luang Prabang, Tat Kuang Si is a many-tiered waterfall tumbling over limestone formations into a series of cool, swimmable turquoise pools; the term 'Edenic' doesn't do it justice. When you're not swinging off ropes into the water, there's a public park with shelters and picnic tables...

Wat Phu Champasak

Vieng Xai Caves

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