Laos Attractions
Plain of Jars
The Plain of Jars is central Laos. At the various sites of the Plain of Jars, you can see literally hundreds of jars. Some have been damaged by the wars with Viet Nam. Some of the sites even now, still have bomb craters where jars have been split in two from a shell. Tours can be booked everywhere in Phonsavan. Visit the MAG shop close to the Dokkhoun guest house. The Mines Advisory Group help clear bombs left by the secret war of the sixties and early seventies. For a donation you get a free T-shirt. Worth a visit to learn more about the legacy of cluster bombs dropped by B52s hoping to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail. website www.mag.org.uk. Visit the MAG shop close to the Dokkhoun guest house. The Mines Advisory Group help clear bombs left by the secret war of the sixties and early seventies. For a donation you get a free T-shirt. Worth a visit to learn more about the legacy of cluster bombs dropped by B52s hoping to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail. website www.mag.org.uk. The Nisha is a Indian restaurant run by Mohammed, an immigrant from Madras. In a small kitchen he seems to have an inexhaustable supply of ingredients and is able to produce superb cuisine whatever is ordered from the extensive menu. His eaterie is situated almost opposite the Dokkhoun guest house.
Si Phan Don
Si Phan Don (Lao for "Four Thousand Islands") is a group of islands in the Mekong River in Southern Laos near the Cambodian border. The Four Thousand Islands have two main destinations for travellers:Don(Island) Khong is the biggest, but apart from the usual chill&look there's nothing great to do there. Most people head to Don Det, where accommodation is cheaper, you can walk to one of the big Maekong-Falls by yourself, and biking and walking and swimming in the river is just the same as in Don Khong. A beautiful set of islands, set against a lazy and winding section of the Mekong. Be sure to check out the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia, and have conversations with the friendly locals. There isn't much to do in Si Phan Don, but that's the point. The islands are laid back, with small huts mixing in with guest houses along the banks of the Mekong. But, if you get a bit restless, try renting a bike and pedaling around the two main islands, which are connected by a bridge. You can also ride out to the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia in about 45 minutes from most guesthouses. Boat tours around the islands are very popular, and custom tours can be arranged. Pink Dolphin Tours are very popular day trips on the island. For around $10, you get taken by bus and boat to a small patch of sand, which is technically in Cambodia. There you drink beer -- Angkor, not Beer Lao -- and watch small pink spots bop in the distance. It's not bad, and usually includes a stop at a nearby waterfall to round off the afternoon. Si Phan Don is the gateway to Cambodia. Buses leave early every morning from across the river. It's about an hour to the border, but that's only the first stage in what's sure to be a long day of travel. After paying a "stamp tax" on the Laotian side, money for a boat across to Cambodia, and "stamp tax" on that side, you'll be forced to take a dangerous fast boat to the nearest town. This costs a flat fee. Don't bother trying to haggle any of this down; they have a monopoly and know it. All together it takes about six hours to get from the islands to the first town, if things are following smoothly. It's possible to get all the way to Phnom Penh in one day, but don't count on it.
Tham Nong Pafa Cave
A cave discovered in Khammouan Province in 2004; as many as 200 Buddha statues of all sizes have been found inside. Tham Nong Pafa Cave is a cave in the district of Thakhe, Khammouan Province, Laos. Before you go about knee deep in water to wait for a canoe to arrive you must read the rules on a wooden board near by (written in both Lao and English), and take a rest in the empty huts where people who are associated with the cave will be. When you're done getting prepared (don't bring too much with you but money to borrow a sin to enter the cave), find someone waiting by the dock area to take a maximum of 6-9 people by canoe to the not so far away island (it's probably a 2-4 minute ride). Borrow a sin(traditional lao skirt) from the area you go up the stairs (That is if you're a female with no sin). Check around the island when you get there, there’s not much to walk and see, but the flight of stairs you have to go up. By the way take off your shoes before you climb up the stairs. The cave is open until 5pm. No one sleeps there unless they're watching over the cave.
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Laos Travel Information has been derived in part from ‘http://wikitravel.org/en/Laos’ and is based on work by Michael Skragge, ruben, Aparna T, Stephen Atkins, John Fremlin, Itamar Berman, yoni y, jan, nang, Ryan Holliday, Mat Connolley, Joey Sheung, Brian Hnatiak, Michele Ann Jenkins, Evan Prodromou, Paul N. Richter, Yann Forget, Colin Jensen and Peter Donaghy, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Jake73, Thaihans, Texugo, Tniehoff, WindHorse, InterLangBot, Nzpcmad, Ront, Nikita Borisov, Pjamescowie, Bijee, Nils and CIAWorldFactbook2002 and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.
