Laos Champasak Province

Champasak is a small town in southern Laos, on the west bank of the Mekong River about 40km south of Pakse, the capital of Champasak Province. The town was once the seat of the Kingdom of Champasak, an independent Lao state which was abolished by the French in 1945 when they created the Kingdom of Laos, but the last King of Champasak had his palace in Pakse. Today the town is very small, consisting mostly of guesthouses along the riverbank, catering to tourists visiting the Wat Phu temple ruins some 10km away.

Pakse or Pakxe is the capital and most populous city in the southern province of Champasak, making it the second most populous city in Laos. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers. It also served as the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946. Pakse is growing as a tourist destination, whose sites of interest include Wat Phu and Si Phan Don. The city also has the Champasak Provincial Museum, which holds historical documents and artifacts of the province.