Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Swedish, French and Lao - has plenty of info on exploring the surrounding area.
Daily
7am-7pm.
Sekong Hotel
Just across from Phathip Restaurant on the road nearest the river 038
211039.
Get past the grumpy dogs guarding the yard out front and this hotel has reasonably
comfortable en-suite doubles, as well as more expensive “VIP” rooms (1
00,000
K). The walls
are a little nicotine-stained throughout, but otherwise it's not bad value.
50,000K
Woman Fever Kosment Center Guest House
Just across from Phathip Restaurant on the
road nearest the river 020 5638 286.
There's little English spoken at this rickety old gues-
thouse (which might explain the barmy na
me), tho
ugh the rooms - which share squat toilets
at the end of the building - are very cheap.
40,000K
Attapeu
A leafy settlement of almost twenty thousand people, most of whom are Vietnamese, Chinese
or lowland Lao, remote
ATTAPEU
occupies a bend in the Xe Kong just south of where it is
joined by the
Xe Kaman
. Access to the town is much improved, with frequent buses plying
the paved road that links it to Pakse, and it's a pleasant destination compared with the hot and
dusty towns of Xekong and Salavan.
Attapeu is no warehouse of tourist attractions: the way to enjoy this town is by leisurely
wandering in its rambling lanes, absorbing the easy-going pace and chatting with the genial
residents. In the evening, head to the southern end of town, where the Xe Kong pauses to
flow east to west, and the high riverbank invites you to catch a sunset over the river. The only
real sight is Attapeu's main
wat
, which occupies a massive block in the heart of town. On the
northern side of the compound, standing out among the gaudy modern temple architecture,
there's also a handsome French-style monastery school building.
If you're arriving by bus on Route 18B, note the monument at the bus station, commemor-
ating Lao-Vietnamese cooperation during the war. The monument, depicting Pathet Lao and
NVA soldiers waving flags and Kalashnikov rifles aloft, is a near copy of the one in Muang
Phin, Savannakhet province. Not surprisingly, it was built by the Vietnamese.
