Champasak Town, Champasack Travel Package Tours, Laos Tour Information Hotel Guide

CHAMPASAK OVERVIEW

The quaint riverside town of Champasak is set on the western bank of the slow-flowing Mekong River, some 40km south of Pakse. A modest place, Champasak is popular with backpackers who are either visiting Wat Phu or who have been attracted by the generally very relaxed pace of life. Without the hustle and bustle of Pakse and certainly without the crowds of Don Dhet and Don Khon, Champasak retains the best of both worlds, all well-wrapped-up in a blanket of traditional Lao hospitality. Even in high season, this is a sleepy place. Along the solitary main road water buffaloes and wandering geese are more common sights than cars and buses, and the riverfront, with its smattering of small restaurants and hammock-strewn cafes creates an ideal getaway from the midday heat. The Khmer-period ruins of Wat Phu, some eight kilometres to the southwest of "town", were granted their UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001, but aside from a large carpark, a semi-modern looking administrative centre and a museum, the ruins are largely as they've been for centuries.