Champasak & Wat Phu

We spent one night in Champasak on our way in between Pakse and the Four Thousand Islands. We were there for one thing: Wat Phu, an ancient Khmer temple.

Wat Phou

The temple is supposedly the most impressive religious ruin in Laos, and while it can’t compare to the temples at Angkor, it was an impressive sight to see. The temple is mostly ruins, although you could tell that they were hard at work trying to rebuild what they could.

Walking an ancient road towards the temple

The most impressive aspect of the ruins was actually the grounds the temple was built on. At the foot of a mountain that reminded the ancients of a natural linga (a pillar used for worshiping the god Shiva), cobblestone paths rise up to platforms surrounded by beautiful trees and with beautiful views of the valley and river below.

Beautiful paths

Look out over the valley

Walking around the grounds

We had fun walking around the grounds and seeing the beautiful stonework typical of Khmer temples.

Hanging out in a doorway

The temple is still used by the locals.

Champasak itself was small, with one street having nearly every guesthouse and restaurant. Our place was simple, but nice enough. The guesthouses were all used to travelers passing through between Pakse and the Four Thousand Islands, and we had no trouble arranging transport.  Wat Phu is also easily done as a day trip from Pakse.

Main Street, Champasak

We were in Champasak for Christmas Eve, and had a fun night drinking with other travelers at our guesthouse (as there was literally nothing else to do in town). It was fascinating hearing about each country’s different traditions, from Australia to Denmark; Germany to Argentina. The only hiccup in the night was the older German couple who were (unfortunately for them) sleeping in the room next door. After many blowups and angry shouting between the couple and the German backpacker who was partying with us, everything was settled – until we woke up the next morning and saw the couple in our van for the long drive to the Four Thousand Islands. Oops.