Vientiane

Vientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion. Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic centre of Laos. The estimated population of the city is 760,000 . The city hosted the 25th Southeast Asian Games in December 2009 celebrating the 50 years of Southeast Asian Games.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is the capital city of Luang Prabang Province in north central Laos. The city is located at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers about 300 km north of Vientiane. The population of the city is about 50,000. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. It had also been known by the ancient name of Chiang Thong. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The old town centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main part of the city consists of four main roads on a peninsula between the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers. The city is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries. Every morning, hundreds of monks from the various monasteries walk through the streets collecting alms. One of the major landmarks in the city is a large steep hill on which sits Wat Chom Si.

Khone Phapheng Falls

The Khone Falls and Pha Pheng Falls is a waterfall located in Champasak Province on the Mekong River in southern Laos, near the border with Cambodia . The Khone Falls are the largest in southeast Asia and they are the main reason that the Mekong is not fully navigable into China. The falls are characterised by thousands of islands and countless waterways, giving the area its name Si Phan Don or The 4,000 islands. The highest falls reach to 21 metres; the succession of rapids stretch 9.7 km of the rivers length. The average discharge of the cataract is nearly 11,000 m3/s, though the highest volume on record was reached at over 49,000 m3/s .

Champasak

Champasak is a small town in southern Laos, on the west bank of the Mekong River about 40 km south of Pakse, the capital of Champasak Province. The town was once the seat of the Kingdom of Champasak, an independent Lao state which was abolished by the French in 1945 when they created the Kingdom of Laos, but the last King of Champasak had his palace in Pakse. Today the town is very small, consisting mostly of guesthouses along the riverbank, catering to tourists visiting the Wat Phu temple ruins some 10 km away.

Pak Ou Caves

Near Pak Ou the Tham Ting and the Tham Theung are caves overlooking the Mekong River, 25 km to the north of Luang Prabang, Laos. They are a group of two caves on the west side of the Mekong river, about two hours upstream from the centre of Luang Prabang, and have become well known by tourists. The caves are noted for their miniature Buddha sculptures. Hundreds of very small and mostly damaged wooden Buddhist figures are laid out over the wall shelves. They take many different positions, including meditation, teaching, peace, rain, and reclining .

Viengxay caves

The Viengxay caves in Houaphanh Province of North-Eastern Laos are an extensive network of caves in limestone mountains. Four-hundred eighty of these caves were used by the Pathet Lao during the Second Indochina War to shelter from American bombardment. Up to 23,000 people lived in the caves, which contained a hospital, a school, Pathet Lao offices, bakeries, shops, and even a theatre. The area was home to the Communist army, who were fighting the royalist forces, based in Vientiane. The caves were used for living and working in because the U. S. Air Force was bombing the area so heavily. Locals say that farmers had to farm at night to avoid bombing raids. Vieng Xay served as a base for the Communist forces because it was close to the Vietnamese border for logistical and political support. The Lao government hopes to promote the caves as a tourism destination, similar to the Củ Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and the Killing Fields Memorial near Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It is an unusual site in that it offers the opportunity to explore a largely intact revolutionary base. The World Tourism Organization Netherlands Development Agency and Asian Development Bank have been asked to help develop the site for international visitors. A project plan has been drawn up in conjunction with the Caves Office and implementation has begun, with improved signage and interpretation at sites.

Plain of Jars

The Plain of Jars is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. Scattered in the landscape of the Xieng Khouang plateau, Xieng Khouang, Lao PDR, are thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys. The Xieng Khouang Plateau is located at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. Initial research of the Plain of Jars in the early 1930s claimed that the stone jars are associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars. The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age and is one of the most important sites for studying Southeast Asian prehistory. The Plain of Jars has the potential to shed light on the relationship between increasingly complex societies and megalithic structures and provide insight into social organisation of Iron Age Southeast Asia’s communities.

Phou Bia

Phou Bia is the highest mountain in Laos and is located in the Annamese Cordillera, at the southern limit of the Xiangkhoang Plateau in Xiangkhouang Province. Owing to its altitude, the climate is cold and the area around the mountain is mostly cloudy.

Kuang Si Falls

The Kuang Si Falls, sometimes spelled Kuang Xi or known as Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls, is a three tier waterfall about 29 kilometres south of Luang Prabang. These waterfalls are a favourite side trip for tourists in Luang Prabang. The falls begin in shallow pools atop a steep hillside. These lead to the main fall with a 60 metres cascade. The falls are accessed via a trail to a left of the falls. The water collects in numerous turquoise blue pools as it flows downstream. The many cascades that result are typical of travertine waterfalls. The locals charge a nominal admission fee to visit the site, but it is well maintained with walkways and bridges to guide the visitor. Most of the pools are open to swimming .

Nong Fa Lake

Nong Fa Lake or Nongphatom Lake is a volcanic crater lake in the mountains of Sanxay District, Attapeu Province, southeastern Laos, located within the Dong Ampham National Biodiversity Conservation Area, about 12 kilometres from the Vietnamese border. At an altitude of 1154 metres, the maximum depth of the lake is reportedly 78 metres, although locals have claimed that the depth is unknown, having attempted fruitlessly to gauge the depth with bamboo poles. Lonely Planet describes it as "magical", a "beautiful volcanic lake, similar to but larger than Yeak Lorn in Cambodias Ratanakiri Province, was used by the North Vietnamese as an RnR for soldiers hurt on the Ho Chi Minh Trail." The lake is shrouded in legends, and Laotians refrain from bathing in it because they believe it is inhabited by a giant snake-pig who will devour its bathers.

Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge

The Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong is a bridge that connects Nakhon Phanom Province in Thailand with Thakhek, Khammouane in Laos. The bridges foundation stone was laid on March 6, 2009, and it opened for traffic on November 11, 2011. The bridge is 1423 metres long and 13 metres wide. The name "Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge" was previously also used to refer to the planned bridge from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xai, Laos, but this bridge is now known as the Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.

Don Kho

Don Kho is an island village in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao, located in Champasak Province. It sits in the main stream of the Mekong River upstream of Pakse

Nam Ngum Dam

The Nam Ngum Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Nam Ngum river, a major tributary of the Mekong in Laos. It was the first hydropower dam built in Lao PDR. It was constructed in three stages, beginning in with stage I in 1968 and ending with the completion of stage III in 1984. The Mekong Commission first implemented the dam project as part of the national development plan. The project was mainly focused on harnessing Lao PDR’s hydropower potential, but it has also striven to achieve flood protection, implement lift irrigation, facilitate lake fishery, and develop Lao PDR’s tourism industry. The Nam Ngum Dam has a capacity of 155MW and generates most of Laos' electricity, including all the power used in the capital, Vientiane. Additionally 70% to 80% of electricity created by the dam is exported to Thailand. The revenue from this exporting accounts for about a quarter of Laos' foreign exchange earnings. The gross power revenues of the dam are approximately US$36 million annually. However, recent studies have insinuated that the dam has adversely affected lake fishery and the wider Nam Ngum river ecosystem. Responsibility for operation of the project rests with the national power utility Electricité du Laos, a state enterprise under the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. Today Lao PDR’s hydropower potential is widely recognized as one of the countries main resources, since it enjoys a strategic location between the booming economies of China, Vietnam, and Thailand and rivers that contribute 35% of Mekong flows. Lao PDR has an estimated potential of some 18,000 MW from over 60 project sites on the tributaries of the Mekong River, of which less than 3 per cent has been developed.

Houay Ho Dam

The Houay Ho is a dam located in the Samakkhixay District of Attapeu Province, Laos, 160 km east of Pakse and 30 km northwest of Attapeu. The project is considered the first privately financed joint venture 'build-operate-transfer' hydropower project in Laos. It has installed capacity of 152.1 megawatts , almost all of which is exported to Thailand.

Xayaburi Dam

The Xayaburi Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Lower Mekong River approximately 30 kilometres east of Xayaburi town in northern Laos. In 2019, commercial operation is scheduled to start. The main purpose of the dam is to produce hydroelectric power. The project is surrounded in controversy due to complaints from downstream riparians and environmentalists. Preliminary construction began in early-2012, but work on the dam itself was suspended shortly thereafter due to complaints from Cambodia and Vietnam downstream. After making modifications to the dam's design, Laos plans to start full construction with a ceremony on 7 November 2012. The Xayaburi Dam is the first of the 11 dams planned on the lower Mekong.

Mụ Giạ Pass

The Mụ Giạ Pass is a mountain pass in the Annamite Range between northern Vietnam and Laos, located 90 km northwest of Đồng Hới, Vietnam. The pass is 418 m above sea level and connects National Road 15 from Tân Ấp in Vietnam to Route 12 in Khammouane Province in Laos. The pass was the principal point of entry into the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. A CIA landscape analysis prepared in February 1966 described Route 15 as threading "its way upstream along a narrow, steep-sided valley. To the left rise dog-toothed limestone peaks, to the right is a flat-topped plateau. Dense tropical rain forest covers the entire area, almost frustrating aerial observation. The road is carved out of the steep hillside, for in most places there is not enough room for both road and stream in the constricted bottom of the ravine". Due to its difficult geography, the pass was identified as a choke point, and, as a result, was heavily bombed first as part of Operation Barrel Roll and later as part of Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Commando Hunt. By March 1966, it was estimated that 75% of all truck traffic into Laos went through the pass. On 12 April 1966, 29 B-52s attacked the pass for the first time in the largest bombing mission since World War II, using a combination of subsurface and delayed action bombs over a 5 km section, but the pass was not closed by landslides as had been hoped for. A second B-52 strike took place on 26 April but the damage was repaired within 10 hours and convoys were seen using the pass the next day. A CIA report noted that the "Communists will spare no effort to keep it open". Despite frequent bombing, the United States Air Force and United States Navy were never able to put the pass out of operation for any sustained period of time. The North Vietnamese Army also constructed several bypass roads around the pass to the east and west of Route 12 in Laos and later a series of petrol, oil and lubricants pipelines through the pass. The NVA progressively built up their air defences around the pass, first installing smaller calibre anti-aircraft artillery , then larger calibre AAA, by 1966 more than 300 AAA sites had been identified around the pass. By 1972 SAM-2 missiles covered approaches to the pass, forcing B-52s and gunships to keep their distance reducing the interdiction effort.

Pakse

Pakse or Pakxe is the capital and most populous city in the southern province of Champasak, making it the second most populous city in Laos. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, it has a population of about 88,000. It also served as the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946.

Pakxan

Pakxan, Paksan or Muang Pakxan is a town in Bolikhamsai Province, in western Laos. It is the capital of Paksan District. The Nam Xan River joins the Mekong River at Paksan on the border with Thailand, opposite Bung Kan. Paksan is well connected to the south of Laos by Route 13.

Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge

The Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge is a highway bridge over the Mekong River that links the Chiang Khong District of Thailand and Ban Houayxay in Laos. The bridge opened to the public on December 11, 2013. The bridge was the last section of Asia Highway 3 to be built.

Don Sahong Dam

The Don Sahong is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Mekong River in Siphandone area of Champasak Province, southern Laos. It is located less than two kilometers upstream of the Laos–Cambodia border.

Pakbeng

Pak Beng is a small village in Laos, on the Mekong River about halfway between the Thai border at Huay Xai and Luang Prabang, Laos. Pakbeng is connected by a sealed road with Oudomxai along the Nam Beng River.

Thakhek

Thakhek is a town in south-central Laos on the Mekong River and facing Nakhon Phanom across the river in northeastern Thailand. It is the capital of Khammouane Province. The city has many French colonial style official buildings, villas and shops. Western scientists first encountered the Laotian rock rat - kha-nyou in Thakhek's market. Remnants of the abortive Thakhek - Tan Ap railway can be seen in and near the town. The railway would have run between Thakhek and Tân Ấp Railway Station, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam through the Mụ Giạ Pass. Construction of the Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, linking Thakhek to Nakhon Phanom, started in 2009 and was commemorated on 1111. The population is 85,000 people according to 2012 census data.

Doi Phi Pan Nam

Doi Phi Pan Nam, Thai: ดอยผีปันน้ำ, is a 1,745m high mountain in Southeast Asia, part of the Luang Prabang Range . It is located at the eastern end of the Thai highlands, on the international border between Laos and Thailand. The Wa River has its source beneath this mountain.

Phou Khe

Phu Khe is a mountain in Southeast Asia, part of the Luang Prabang Range . It is located at the eastern end of the Thai highlands, on the international border between Laos and Thailand. With a height of 2,079 metres and a prominence of 1,646 metres, Phu Khe is one of the ultra prominent peaks of Southeast Asia.

Shiceng Dashan

Shiceng Dashan is a mountain at the junction of the borders of Laos, China and Vietnam. According to the news report, the three countries have a border dispute in which a pending agreement is on the table. There is a monolith at the top marking the tripoint spot. Its name means "ten layer big mountain".

Nam Theun 2 Dam

The Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project, or simply NT2, is a hydroelectric dam located on the Nam Theun River in Laos. Commercial operation of the plant began in April 2010. The scheme diverts water from the Nam Theun, a tributary of the Mekong River, to the Xe Bang Fai River, enabling a generation capacity of 1,075 MW, from a 350 m difference in elevation between the reservoir and the power station. It is the largest hydroelectric project so far in Laos, exporting power to Thailand and supplying the local area with electricity. At the time of signing in 2005, NT2 was the largest foreign investment in Laos, the world's largest private sector cross-border power project financing, the largest private sector hydroelectric project financing, and one of the largest internationally financed IPP projects in Southeast Asia. The dam also marked a return by the World Bank to funding large-scale infrastructure, after a decade-long hiatus. According to the government of Laos, "the project is an essential part of the country's development framework and the Project's implementation is likely to be the first real possibility for to reduce gradually its dependence on Official Development Assistance". The project has environmental and social impacts, and comprehensive measures have been designed to mitigate these. According to a group of social and environmental experts who advise on the project, these measures could become a global model. Although Newsweek magazine referred to it as a "kinder and gentler dam", the project also attracted criticism. By 2015, it was possible to see the actual effect of the dam and criticism mounted. A group of non-governmental organisations said: "Ten years after the start of the construction of the Nam Theun 2 dam in Central Laos, it is clear that this mega project has disastrous impacts on people and their environment."

Savannakhet

Savannakhet or Kaysone Phomvihane is a city in western Laos and the capital of the Savannakhet Province, previously known as Khanthabouli . This is the second-largest city in Laos, after Vientiane. The city is birthtown of Kaysone Phomvihane, former president of Laos, and was named after him in 2005. Although the old French colonial quarter of the town, along the Mekong River-front, is depressed and crumbling, the town's proximity to Thailand's booming economy has brought about new commercial development in the northern part of the town, near both the river crossing and the bus terminal. Like all Lao cities, Kaysone Phomvihane has a mixed population of Lao, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese, as well as minority peoples from the Lao interior. It has a large 15th-century Buddhist temple, Wat Sainyaphum, a Chinese temple, a Catholic church and a mosque. The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong connects to Mukdahan Province in Thailand. The two-lane, 12-meter wide, 1,600-meter long bridge, opened to the general public on January 9, 2007.

Laos