Pakse is a fairly modern city at the junction of the Mekong and Xe Don (or Sedone) rivers. Founded only a little over a hundred years ago, it has a few colonial-era buildings, a lot of new construction, and a forward-looking feel.
It's a city for business, rather than tourism and, although the town centre is a pleasant enough place for a wander, the riverfronts are largely undeveloped and there are few sites of interest for tourists in the town itself. That said, they were doing construction on the Mekong riverfront when I visited, so in the future you will hopefully find waterside parks and promenades replacing the construction.
There are a number of new, good value hotels and guesthouses in town, raising the quality of accommodation (I stayed at one on the Mekong with a rooftop pool). Add in decent food and plentiful transport links, and Pakse becomes a good base for exploring some of the scenery and sites of Southern Laos (one of which I'll explore in the next post).
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| View of sunset over the Mekong (and more new construction) from my hotel's rooftop pool |
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| Typical street scene in the "tourist centre" old town area |
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| One of the old-style buildings in the old town area |
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| Sunset over the Mekong |
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| Ramshackle old building on one of the side streets |
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