A travel piece on Wat Phu in Laos and some other Buddhist temples in Pakse.
Climbing Khmer temple complex in Laos
Vientiane Times, via ANN/Cambodia Herald, 04 September 2014
The way to Vat Phou is so beautiful as the paths are lined with trees and greenery that takes on an extra special light in the nourishment of the wet season rains.
You can see villagers having fun planting rice, fishing in the Mekong River and enjoying selling local products that they collect in the forest.
If you want to view these scenes, you should rent a motorbike, which cost 60,000 kip per day, to make the 35 kilometre journey from Pakxe to Vat Phou Champassak.
On arrival at Vat Phou, local authorities offer tourists two options of walking to the top of the ruins themselves, a distance of around three kilometres, or they can take the easy option and make the journey by electric car for a cost of 20,000 kip.
Vat Phou offers three choices of stairs to its mountain temple. The going is easy early on but the stairs get more difficult as the grade gets steeper and it is quite a trek to the top of the mountain, which is 1,400 metres in height.
Full story here.