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Patuxai
Vientianes Arc de Triomphe replica is a slightly incongruous sight, dominating the commercial district around Th Lan Xang. Officially called Victory Monument and commemorating the Lao who died in prerevolutionary wars, it was built in 1969 with cement donated by the USA intended fo
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Tat Yuang
Tat Yuang is impressive, with its twin torrents falling about 40m and flowing into lush jungle. Its hugely popular with day-trippers from Pakse and Thailand who like to picnic at the top, so getting there early or lingering until dusk after the crowds have cleared out is a good ide
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Wat Had Siaw
Around 20 minutes walk further east is the operational, if rather decrepit, little Wat Had Siaw – take the unpromising right fork about halfway along just after the main path turns inland. Youll pass a lonely hut and cross a one-plank stream-bridge before arriving.Beyond Wat Had Si
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Tham Nam
About 400m south of Tham Hoi, along a well-used path, is the highlight of this trip, Tham Nam . The cave is about 500m long and a tributary of the Nam Song flows out of its low entrance. In the dry season you can wade into the cave, but when the water is higher you need to take a t
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Wat Nyutthitham
West of the river on the main highway is the late 19th-century temple, more commonly known as Wat Thong. An old sǐm (ordination hall) features an arched and colonnaded verandah, and has a washed pastel stucco relief on the front. This was the wat used by Champasaks royal family, an
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Wat Manorom
Winding lanes to the west lead to Wat Manorom, set amid frangipani trees just outside what were once the city walls (now invisible). This is possibly the oldest temple site in Luang Prabang and the sǐm contains a sitting 6m-tall bronze Buddha originally cast in 1372. During the 188
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Lao National Culture Hall
Opposite the Lao National Museum, and dwarfing it, is the monumentally proportioned Lao National Culture Hall . The outsized and ugly hall was built by the Chinese government in the late 1990s as a ‘gift to the people of Laos’. It hosts occasional cultural events as varied as Frenc
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Jar Site 1
The biggest and most easily accessible, Site 1 features over 300 jars relatively close-packed on a pair of hilly slopes pocked with bomb craters. The biggest, Hai Jeuam , weighs around 6 tonnes, stands more than 2.5m high and is said to have been the mythical victory cup of Khun Je
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Khon Phapeng Falls
South of Don Khong the Mekong River features a 13km stretch of powerful rapids with several sets of cascades, the largest of which is Khon Phapheng, not far from Ban Thakho. Imagine pure, unrestrained aggression as millions of litres of water crash over the rocks and into Cambodia
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Wat Wisunarat
Though touted as one of Luang Prabangs oldest operating temples its actually an 1898 reconstruction built following the Black Flag raids. As a rather meagre return for paying the entrance fee you can peruse a sizeable collection of old gilded Calling for Rain buddhas with long sinu
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Champasak Historical Heritage Museum
This museum features ancient Dong Son bronze drums, a 7th-century Siam-style sandstone buddha head, and a textile and jewellery collection from the Nyaheun, Suay and Laven groups, interesting for its large iron ankle bracelets and ivory ear plugs. Also on display are musical instru
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Lao National Museum
Sadly this charming French-era building, flanked by cherry blossom and magnolia trees, is due to be knocked down and moved to newer premises. Formerly known as the Lao Revolutionary Museum, much of its collection retains an unshakeable revolutionary zeal. Downstairs has a potted ac
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Jar Site 2
Site 2 is a pair of hillocks divided by a shallow gully that forms the access lane. This rises 700m from the ticket desk in what becomes a muddy slither in wet conditions. To the left in thin woodlands, look for a cracked stone urn through which a tree has managed to grow. To the r
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Xieng Khuan
Twenty-five kilometres southeast of Vientiane, eccentric Xieng Khuan 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 who
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Tham Phu Kham
The vast Tham Phu Kham is considered sacred by Lao and is popular largely due to the lagoon in the cave. The beautiful green-blue waters are perfect for a dip after the stiff climb. The main cave chamber contains a Thai bronze reclining Buddha, and from here deeper galleries branc
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Wat That Luang
Traditionally the cremation site for Lao royalty, legend has it that Wat That Luang was originally established by Ashokan missionaries in the 3rd century BC. However, the current large sǐm is a 1818 rebuild whose leafy column-capitals look more Corinthian than Indian. The sǐm is br
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Wat Xieng Mouane
In the Old Quarter, the ceiling of Wat Xieng Mouane is painted with gold naga (mythical serpent-being) and the elaborate háang thíen (candle rail) has naga at either end. With backing from Unesco and New Zealand, the monks quarters have been restored as a classroom for training you
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Tat Somphamit
Located 1.5km downriver from the French bridge on Don Khon, Tat Somphamit – aka Li Phi Falls – is a raging set of rapids. Li Phi means spirit trap and locals believe the falls act as just that – a trap for bad spirits as they wash down the river. Local fishermen risk their skin edg
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Nam Tien
To fully appreciate the charm of Sainyabulis setting, drive 9km southwest to the Nam Tien reservoir-lake, access point for the Elephant Conservation Center . A restaurant here is perched above the dam, offering views across emerald rice paddies and wooded slopes towards a western h
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Tat Hua Khon
After about 17.5km along Rte 11, a long bridge crosses the Se Nam Noi and you enter Attapeu Province. Just over of the bridge, at Km 18, a track leads east to Tat Hua Khon. The name translates as waterfall of the heads, owing to a WWII episode in which Japanese soldiers decapitated
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