Laos - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 392

EATING AND DRINKING
Café Sinouk No 11 Rd. A lovely, relaxed café, perfect for
whiling away a few hours, though not especially cheap.
Drinks 15,000-30,000K. Daily 6.30am-8.30pm.
Daolin At the junction of Route 13 and No. 24 Rd T 020
5573 3199. Positively bustling most of the day, Daolin
lures people in with low prices and reliable backpacker
food that's prepared in an open kitchen. Apart from the
usual noodle dishes and cheese baguettes (15,000K),
there's decent local coffee and gooey ice-cream sundaes
(20,000K). Daily 6.30am-9pm.
★

Annamite Mountains into present-day
hailand. A former palace of Prince
Boun Oum na Champasak , the scion of
the royal family of Champasak and
one-time prime minister, can be seen in
the town itself - the first of two pale,
old French mansions, if you're coming
from the north.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By boat Two or three Pakse-bound tourist boats
leave town each day (the first is at 1pm). These services
take around two hours in either direction (70,000K).
Travelling to and from Si Phan Don by boat is an
altogether more complicated process. Unless lots of
other travellers have the same idea, you'll need to hire
the entire boat for the six-hour journey, and stump up
around $250. To get yourself on a boat, call in at the
tourist office (see below).
By bus Sawngthaews from Pakse should let you off
at Champasak's tiny roundabout, towards the north of
town. Three sawngthaews run through Champasak each
morning (between 6.30am and 9am), charging 20,000K
for the journey to Pakse.
For bus connections to and from Si Phan Don, you'll need
to cross the river to Ban Muang (7000K). Tickets to Si Phan
Don sold at the tourist o ce in Champasak (70,000K)
include a pick-up from your hotel, the ferry crossing, and
a minibus ride to either Ban Hat Xai Khoun or Nakasang,
where you can catch a boat to the islands. Note that you'll
have to pay for the final boat ride.

5

Nazim's No.12 Rd, just south of Route 13 T 031
254059. A very well-managed branch of Laos's most
popular Indian restaurant chain, serving affordable meat
and veggie curries (from 9000K). Wash down the chillies
with an ice-cold mango lassi. Daily 7.30am-10pm.
Salachampa Attached to the Salachampa hotel (the
entrance is on No. 12 Rd) T 031 254059. Sip draught
Beerlao (8000K/glass) in the shade of tall palm and
papaya trees. The food isn't anything special, but there are
some reasonably priced Lao dishes (watered down for
Western tastebuds) to accompany the beer. Mon-Sat
6-10pm.
Viengsavanh Seendard Just south of No. 46 Rd T 031
212388. No nonsense place that wins over locals with
very tasty, inexpensive, barbecued meat that's fantastic
with cold beer. The beef set, including lime, salad, dips and
instant noodles, costs 50,000K. Daily 5-10pm.

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange BCEL, on No. 11 Rd, and Lao
Development Bank on Route 13, both with ATMs.
Consulates Vietnam, on No. 24 Rd (Mon-Fri 8-11am &
2-4.30pm; T 031 212058).
Hospital South of the shopping centre on No. 9 Rd.
Internet Internet cafés come and go; your best bet is
Sedone (daily 8am-6pm; 5000K/hr), just south of Pakse
Hotel . Otherwise, most hotels and tourist-oriented restau-
rants have free wi-fi.
Tour agencies Green Discovery ( W greendiscovery.org)
on No. 10 Rd; Pakse Travel ( T 020 227 7277) on No. 12 Rd.

INFORMATION
Tourist information The tourist o ce (Mon-Fri
8-11am & 2-4.30pm) is situated near the post o ce.
They can organize a small number of tours around the
region and provide the latest information on chartering
boats to Pakse or Si Phan Don.
Bank Lao Development Bank (Mon-Fri 8.30am-3.30pm)
is just west of the roundabout, with an exchange desk
and ATM.
Internet Wi-fi is available at the restaurant at Inthira
(see p.396), among other places.

CHAMPASAK
An increasingly popular backpacker
destination, CHAMPASAK serves as the
gateway to Wat Phou and the Khmer
ruins, although it is also possible to
visit Wat Phou as a day-trip from
Pakse. Meandering for 4km along
the right bank of the Mekong,
Champasak is an unassuming town, but
was once the capital of a Lao kingdom
whose territory stretched from the

ACCOMMODATION
Khamphouy Just south of the roundabout T 020 2227
9922, E [e-mail]. All of the furniture is
mismatched, but this very welcoming, old-school guest-
house has good-value double and twin rooms in two
separate buildings. Free wi- fi, free te a, and a little lobby
lounge full of books. Double 40,000K
Siamphone Hotel West of the roundabout, near the
bank T 031 920128. Plain, tiled and very clean en-s uite
rooms in a large and soulless block. Double 100,000K