Pakse is the main travel hub for the far south of Laos. Even if your final destination is Champasak or the 4,000 Islands, chances are getting there will involve passing through, if not staying the night in, Pakse. There's not a lot to see in Pakse itself, but it does make a good base for seeing several of the key sights of the area, such as Vat Phu in Champasak and the Bolaven Plateau. There are a number of comfortable hotels in the city, as well as some nice restaurants and coffee shops.
Pakse is the main transportation hub for the far south of Laos, so it's relatively easy to get there or away to other places. Note the emphasis on 'relatively'. This part of Laos is still not a huge tourist draw, so while there are ways to get there, they aren't overly plentiful.
Getting to Pakse by air: Pakse has a small airport, served by the national carrier, Lao Airlines. You can reach Pakse from the other main domestic centers of Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
There isn't a huge selection of hotels in Pakse. Within the city there a just a few locally run hotels, most of them decidedly tourist class. A couple of good central choices are listed below. Not listed in any of our reliable booking sites is the Pakse Hotel, which has a good central location and a nice roof-top restaurant.
Champa Hotel (Champasak Palace) A somewhat beautiful building housing rather lackluster rooms.
There are several good restaurants around Pakse. Most of them serve Thai, Vietnamese and light European foods. There's nothing too fancy, and the variety is large, but there's enough choice that you'll likely find something to suit. There are no western fast food chains, so almost all of the options are local.
Coffee and coffee cake at Bolaven cafe There are a lot of restaurants along the main road of Street 13 South, so that is the best place to head if you're not sure what you want.
Like much of mainland Southeast Aisa, Pakse has three seasons: the "cool" season from November to February, the "hot" season from March to May, and the "rainy" season from June to October. The cool season is the traditional time to visit, but it's also when sights will be the most crowded, and hotel rates the highest. Conventional wisdom has it that the rainy season is the worst time to come, but this is not necessarily true.
The big stupa and prayer hall of Wat Luang Wat Luang is the main temple within the center of Pakse. It lies on the banks of the Se Don river just near the main bridge over the river and to the airport. The temple was established in 1935 and also serves as a Buddhist (sangha) colleges as well. The old building that houses the college is one of the more interesting in the temple compound.
December 2011
The upper floors of Champasak Palace Despite warnings, I still had high expectations for the Champasak Palace hotel. I had hoped for a faded glory, but glory nonetheless. Well, the hotel is definitely faded, that's for sure. It's another sad case where a little care and elbow grease (plus some bleach) would make a world of difference. It's not that it's awful, it's not just all it easily could be.
December 2011
This little hotel run by the Sinouk Coffee people lives up to the term 'boutique'. Public spaces as well as the rooms feature dark, highly polished wood floors and flat white walls covered with art and photography from around the region. My standard room was small but efficiently laid out.
The bathroom was very small, with a shower stall that was a tiny bit on the small side for me, but not uncomfortably so.
