Pakse

Pakse is a French-founded town at the confluence of the Mekong and Se Don rivers. It is now the capital of Champasak Province but has little of interest except the lively market.

Pakse is also the gateway for trips to teh former royal capital of Champasak and the Angkor ruins of Wat Phu.

The Champasak area has a long history that began with Khmer occupation during the Funan and Chenla empires between the 1st and 9th centuries AD. From the 10th to 13th centuries Champasak was part of the Angkor Empire. It broke away from the Lan Xang kingdom in the 18th century.

Champasak Province has a population of a round 500,000 that includes lowland Lao, Khmer, Phu Thai and various Mon-Khmer groups. The province is well known for matmii, silks and cottons that are hand-woven of tie-dyed threads.

The annual monsoon cycle gives Laos two distinct seasons: May to October is wet and November to April is dry.Southern Laos gets the most rain overall; the peaks of the Annamite Chain receive the heaviest rainfall, over 3000mmi annually.The provinces of Luang Prabang, Sainyabuli and Xieng Khuang usually receive only 1000 to 1500mm a year. Vientiane and Savannalchet get about 1500 to 2000mm, as do Phongsali, Luang Nam Tha and Bokeo.In the Mekong River valley (from Bokeo Province to Champasak Province) the highest temperatures (up to 38ºC) occur March/April and the lowest are in December/ January (as low as 15ºC).

In the mountains of Xieng Khuang December/January nights can easily fall to OºC. In mountainous provinces of lesser elevation, temperatures may be a few degrees higher. During most of the rainy season, daytime averages are about 29ºC in the lowlands and around 25ºC in mountain valleys.