Running off the Bolaven Plateau, the Huay Katam drops more than 100m out of thick forest at Nam Tok Katamtok, which some describe as Laos' highest waterfall. And while they may or may not be bigger than Tat Fan, these falls are more impressive because they are so difficult to reach.
Or at least they were. The new Paksong–Attapeu highway cuts right by the falls, and it's easy to see the falls soon going the way of so many of the Bolaven Plateau's waterfalls, overrun by concession stands and Thai tour buses. Even more ominously, a big dam being built just upstream could threaten the falls' very existence.
Hopefully we're wrong. Katamtok remained untouched by mass tourism and was in full flow when we last visited in 2013. Get here sooner rather than later would be our advice. You can't get down to the falls, at least not easily, so content yourself with viewing them from a well-marked viewpoint on the left (if heading toward Paksong), 17km west of Ban Benghuakham. About 1.5km east of Katamtok, look out for another impressive set of falls beneath the road on the right.
