One Pakse vacation, not only details the rapid growth of economic, but also serves the Laos travel fans with the bright pictures of natural, cultural and religious beauty that is remarkably preserved. Pakse tours could be the big tickets for your lifetime memory in Indochina. Founded by the French in 1905 as an administrative outpost, Pakse sits at the confluence of the Mekong River and the Se Don (Don River) and is the capital of Champasak Province. The town has grown quickly since the Lao-Japanese Bridge across the Mekong was opened in 2002, facilitating brisk trade business with Thailand. Its position on the way to Si Phan Don in the far south, the Bolaven Plateau and the remote provinces to the east, and Thailand to the west means anyone choosing to travel in the south will almost certainly spend some quality time here in their Pakse tours.

The vast Talat Dao Heung (New Market) near the Lao-Japanese Bridge is one of the biggest in the country, famous for its selection of fresh produce and coffee from the fertile Bolaven Plateau. Wat Phu stands out brightly among the 20 temples in the city, and it's absolutely the major attraction to any Pakse travel fans for its stone-established Khmer architectural style and plenteous historian ruins. A monastic school at Wat Luang features ornate concrete pillars cared wooden doors and murals; the artist's whimsy departs from canonical art without losing the traditional effect. Villages near Pakse can be visited for a fun day out. Ban Saphai villages are famous as silk weaving centers, and women can be seen working on large looms underneath their homes producing distinctive silk and cotton long sarongs. An elephant-back ride into the virgin forest of Phapho Village may frees your imagination of the life of jungle residents. The Khon Phapheng Falls are the biggest in Southeast Asia and quite a breath-taker for its marvelous majesty. No matter where you're at in Pakse tours,VTS, the devotional and professional Pakse tour operator is always with you!

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

1. Getting there & away

Land

Bus & sǎwngthǎew

Pakse has several bus and sǎwngthǎew ­terminals.

Dao heung market (morning market)

Buses and sǎwngthǎew leave the sǎwngthǎew farm at the edge of the Dao Heung Market for Champasak (US$1.30, one to two hours) and for Ban Saphai (US$0.50, about 40 minutes) regularly between about 6.30am and 3pm.

Boat

Like so many others, the public boat from Pakse to Champasak and Don Khong has more-or-less stopped, unable to compete with soaring fuel prices and sǎwngthǎew that do the trip in half the time for less money. At the time of writing occasional boats still ran as far as Champasak, but it was impos­sible to know whether it would go until it actually pulled out from the riverbank near the confluence of the Se Don and the Mekong.

If you don’t have endless time to wait for one of these occasional boats and you have the money it’s possible to rent a boat, though they don’t really have the charm of boats packed with locals, farm animals, snakes, bags of rice and monks sitting on the roof. With some language skills you could charter a boat at the aforementioned confluence of the rivers. Alternatively, ask Mr Boun My (020-5631008; Th 11), who can be found nearby at the first barbecue pork stall opposite the Mekong as the road bends left. He rents boats to Champasak (US$50, one hour), to Um Tomo (US$60, 90 minutes) and Don Khong (US$140, four to five hours). These prices are for six people or less and rise with the number of passengers –for example, 25 people (the maximum) to Champasak costs US$80 for the boat.

Air

Lao Airlines flies between Pakse and Vientiane daily (US$95 one way, 70 minutes). There are also two flights per week to Luang Prabang (US$135, one hour 40 minutes), though these might not run all year.

International flights go to Phnom Penh (US$95, one way, 70 minutes) twice per week and three times per week to Siem Reap (US$85, 45 minutes), though these flights can be cancelled if there’s no demand, and in the low season this is often the case. To be sure, check at the Pakse Lao Airlines office (212252; Th 11; 8-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm Mon-Fri) the day before. Bangkok Airways and its subsidiary Siem Reap Airways should be flying a couple of services per week between Pakse and Bangkok (about US$100) and Pakse and Siem Reap by the time you read this.

The airport is 3km northwest of town and has a BCEL exchange office. A jumbo should cost about US$1.

2.Getting around

Using any of Pakse’s local transport on a shared basis costs between US$0.25 and US$0.40; you might need to bargain a bit. A ride to either bus terminal costs about US$0.50. For charter, the standard fares to the bus stations are US$1.50 (sǎam-lâaw) or US$2 (jumbo or tuk-tuk).

Several shops and guesthouses rent bicycles, usually for US$1 per day. Motorbikes are also readily available, with the Sabaidy 2 Guesthouse having the cheapest bikes (US$8 per day, or US$7 for more than one day). The Lankham Hotel has better bikes, but their US$8 ‘a day’ only buys you 12 hours. If you fancy tackling the Ho Chi Minh Trail, their Honda Baja 250cc trail bikes for US$20 per full day might interest. Discounts are possible for longer hire. The Lao Chaleun Hotel also hires out motos (US$10 per day), and cars and vans with driver (price depends on destination, but to Champasak return is about US$40).


3.Money & costs

Money

BCEL (212770; Th 11; 8.30am-3.30pm Mon-Fri, 8.30-10am Sat) South of Wat Luang, has best rates for cash and travellers cheques and makes cash advances on Visa and MasterCard.

Lao Development Bank (212168; Rte 13; 8am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3pm Sat & Sun) Changes cash and travellers cheques in the smaller exchange office; cash advances (Monday to Friday only) in the main building.

Lao Viet Bank (251470; Rte 13; 9.30am-4pm Mon-Fri)