Wat Phu in Champasak

Its a wonderful place.

Amazing temple and worth the time to climb up , loved the view up there … bring water!!!!

I cant say enough good things about my visit here. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think it is a "must see" attraction for anyone traveling through southern Laos. Its just over an hour from Pakse so getting there isnt a big deal at all!

An amazing place with loads of history..eerie atmosphere...wish the history would be better preserved

Amazing wut phu

This temple is very old one and it is located 35kms from the townThe temple is sooo big and there is no idol of God inside the templeWe must visit the temple for sure to see the beauty of the temple, the place where it is located and the amazing architecture of the templeThe view of the city from the temple is beautifulThere is lake just at the entrance of the temple and its so beautifulOnce we take the stairs we can see Lord Buddha statue and people will be offering flowers thereNeed atleast 3hours time to visit the temple and temple surroundings completely

This is a very old temple, worth admiring and preserving

Ancient pagoda with amazing view.

Holy blessing to visit WatPhu the Hinduisms architecture had been built in 2nd century. The top of vihara, there were dropped of holy water from mountain since 1,500 years ago, never dry, it was always dropped since 2nd century, its believed that health, strong etc. when you drink holy water.

Very impressive. So beautiful old temple. Very lucky to visit here.

Good time to visit is in raining season between June to October because its nice and green moreover not so hot.Its about 40 minutes ride from Pakse and very easy ride.Be prepared for some hiking up and down, gonna be rather exhausted.Entrance fee20,000 kip for lao50,000 kip for foreigner

Must visit World Heritage Sight.

Great remnants of ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples and courtyard. Predates Angkor Wat by a century. Some parts are still being restored.

This place is worth the walk! When you are at the visitors museum area, there is a car the comes to pick you up to take you to the drop off point where you start your walk upwards. The two temple ruins at eh base have so much detail put into it, its worth walking inside the stone. Make sure you are wearing tennis shoes because there is a staircase that is extremely steep and also has tiny ledges so make sure to hold onto something on the way up and down. At the summit has a place where they sell water which is about 7000 Kip for the large bottles. The top has beautiful ruins of an old temple, but take the time to look around the temple as well. To the far left of the monks house, there is a carving of an elephant, but if you follow the back walls of the mountain youll come across a broken old staircase and some sort of sacrificial slab. A lot of people actually miss this when coming here so many people do not know about it. To the right of the temple ruins is a small well. The inside of the temple definitely shows it age, but please do take off your shoes before you enter just to show respect. If you turn around and stand at the ledge, you can actually see the two base temples and the road that car took. Its such a wonderful sight! If anyone takes the time to go through the visitors center, I highly recommend that people donate so that they can maintain the ruins. I did read that France and India were helping with the reconstructions! The visitors center has ancient artifacts incased on the left and information and the history to the right side. Right at the entrance is a book where people write on what the center can improve on or your take on the place. I thought that it was really interesting to see many languages written in there. I too wrote something in the book as well! Love this place.

A temple that was built in pre-Buddhist times. On the slopes, with a beautiful view of the Mekong Valley, and the pools that are within the complex. Quite modestly maintained, unlike the new road, from the town of Pakse, about 30 km away, and easily accessible by bicycle @capriolo bike Nearby is the picturesque village of Champasak, the former capital.

Probably a archeological gem of Khmer culture with potential as a great tourist site. The ticket office and museum was good but walking in these ancient ruins, among the cows and goats grazing there was interesting...! This is one location in a regional Khmer archeological region which will need a few days to understand and explore

Nice to see if you’re in Pakse or Champasak anyway. Went there with my own Motorbike, but as I heard there are busses going too. 50,000 kip entry + 5,000 kip parking.One of the great temples around here. I already saw My Son bear Hoi An in Vietnam and compared to that, here you also have really nice view over the lower temple build sings, the Mekong and (not in the dry burning seasonto the Bolaven Plateau.

The Wat Phu Temple was designed to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity, using an axis from mountaintop to river bank to lay out a geometric pattern of temples, shrines, and waterworks extending over some 10 kilometers. Wat Phu is the most important monumental complex inside the Champasak Archaeological Park, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 and covering an area of 400 square kilometers. A maze of temples, shrines, and other monuments, Wat Phu is an emblem of the enduring genius of the human spirit. One of only two UNESCO World Heritage cultural sites in Laos, Wat Phu Monumental Complex has suffered from a lack of regular maintenance and is prone to damage and destabilization from fluvial processes.  To counteract these issues, Global Heritage Fund is supporting emergency stabilization and a sustained conservation and training program to save the last remaining temples

It was a little like falsa dooms layer in the movie conan the barbarian. Be ready to hike up some very steep stairs. Also, eat before you get there, got some really basic noodle soup for 40k, but worth it. Otherwise very nice.

Biautiful old place !! Just amazing! Before Angkor Wat in Cambodia !!

Nice place. Seems like the little sister of Angkor Wat. Plan to be there between 1 - 2 hours, that’s enough.Like everywhere in Southeast Asia to much plastic garbage.

Amazing place. Must visit when you are in Pakse. There is very sunny and hot here, prepare your hat, umbrella.

I think the oldest building in all the historic buildings inside Laos, Extremely charming and its view very beautiful because of its elegant style and if you are in Laos then definitely visit

Nice temple to walk up. Good views from the top. The museum next to the main office is very well done and informative.

Amazing place. Missing contextual explanations. Impressive Stepway with great places to make pictures.

A must see if you’re in the area. Only takes an hour or two to walk and down the mountain and explore the temple.

Very nice temple , quiete nice views and nice energy definetly worth it if you are near champansek

Best in the morning before the heat and the tourist busses! Entrance is 50k, 5k more for scooter parking. The ticket also includes a museum ticket, which shows some artifacts and provides information about the conservation of ancient sites. Make sure you walk all the way up to the temple, next to it you can find the elephants and crocodile sculptures. Toilets are located at the entrance and the top. Beautiful site, we were the only souls in the morning😉

A great temple complex with beautiful views from the top. If you have a morning or afternoon free in Pakse I would highly recommend hiring a motorbike or tuk-tuk services to visit this historical site.The temple buildings, first used by Hindus and then by Buddhists, are in differing stages of restoration and repair. Wear footwear you are comfortable climbing steep, uneven steps in and can walk over uneven ground with. There are lots of common architectural features with the temples of the huge Angkor complex near Siem Reap - as other reviewers have said, this site is significantly smaller and I would suggest 1-2 hours walking around.There is a pretty good tourist explanation leaflet, an electric shuttle to/from the entrance to the complex and museum entry all included in the entrance ticket (currently 50,000kip for foreigners).We visited at midday and it was very hot! There are parts of the site without shade so I would suggest early or late in the day for visits - whenever you go take water, suncream and a cap.

Visited Wat Phu by bicycle from Champassak - recommended to take your time. The site is large and needs some walking as the free shuttle only brings you a couple of hundreds meter from the entrance.The place still has a great atmosphere due to the lack of the lack of too many tourists, and when you climb up all the stairs you are rewarded by Wat Phu itself 😄

Part of UNESCO world heritage. Like Angkor Wat in small (very small), but therefore much less crowded. A nice goal for a day trip from Pakse by motorbike

If you like to hike steep hill but worth the views

Ancient Khmer temple ruins, translate to "mountain temple". Smaller than Angkor Wat, but its still gorgeous with a mountain background.

We were told that it was as good as Angkor... never listen to people. This is indeed a nice temple but nothing compare to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. You can walk around and enjoy the nice view on top of the hill. You’ll find some buddha statues, as well as Buddha feet mark, elephant and crocodile carved into the rocks.

Real Landmark and historical place to go to in Laos, beautiful and secret, i love ot

Good Temple. Not as big as Angkor in Cambodia but worth seeing.

It is a historical site where we can see ancient buildings

Historical place and it has to be on your to do list if you visit Laos but people there should learn how to deal with the garbages! They are already collecting the garbages in baskets but then they throw it 200m further in the forest!

Nice historical place. Nature in Laos is so gorgeous. You should bring water coz they just sell water at the top of the hill. Not very expensive there but really tired of climbing if you are thirsty.

Another world heritage in Laos. This temple is similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia but this one is smaller.

Neat place to visit and see the ancient temple (currently under restoration).

One good world heritage site in the country. Need a lot of restorations tho.

Amazing historical site! Be sure to be in good condition because it is a steep climb.

Time to be honest: dont expect really great temple remains like in Siem Reap...or anywhere for that matter. There are a few neat carvings, but the remains leave a lot to be desired. However, the landscape and vistas of the area are truly great, and get better the higher you go. So dont be bummed when you see the "temple" but keep going up, and marvel at the natural beauty that unquestionably drew people to this place.

Interesting temple but quite far to visit. The museum provides good information on Wat phu, the ticket price is quite high, I believe around $7 just to enter the site.The temple site is interesting but would be great if there was more information or a tour during your walk around.

The story was very excited but it ruined by site management. There s not make the place clean or anything but if you came wait for the sun set on top near the temple that fantastic highly recommend.

This is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of culture. The temple is really amazing. The view on the top of the hill are beautiful. You must spend at least 2hours to explore the main area of the Wat Pou. Or you can spend more time to go hiking here. There are 2 hiking routes. The medium one take you about 3-4hours. The difficult one takes you about 4-5hours.

Historic site with great views. Be prepared to climb, but view from the top is worth it.

Claim to be 2nd UNESCO world heritage site after Luang Prabang but this place lose its magic by low expertise of management organisation.Admission system is poor, no sign, no instruction, no site plan, no qualitative kind of service in whatever charged 50,000 LAK (7$)We have to stop, paid for a park fee (excludedget in to buy a ticket which seem nobody care to check it, walk back then get in to found 2nd place where parking fee charged.Walk in with garbage, plastic bags, and most mess to the entrance which well-built since 1,000 years ago. Site was not well preserved in compared with Ankor WatAt sanctuary on top, there is no available sign or location map. Make me wonder what did they done with 50,000 LAK from us.Unluckily, the beautiful of this site had fall by poor management. If well restoration, good management, and fine maintenance - this site is one worth what visit.

Wat Phu is a Khmer Historical site, approximately 49 kilometres South West of Pakse. Travel time from Pakse is around one hour and is an easy run on a motorbike, across the bridge and down the western bank of the Mekong. There is plenty of signposting on the way but if you’re in doubt just use the Google maps tracker. The historical site is approx. six kilometres back from the river and tucked in against Phou Khao (mountain). Once you arrive at the carpark you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how well set up the site is. There is an entrance area with the obligatory entry fee to pay plus a nice restaurant and souvenir shop. The entry fee is about USD 5 which includes a tuk-tuk ride along a grassy track between the Barrays. The distance from the entrance to the drop off point is roughly two kilometres. However there is little shade on the way so if you decide to walk, be prepared to perspire. The approach to the historical site itself is by way of a cobblestoned path which is flanked by evenly spaced metre high columns. This wide pathway is the approach to the palace ruins. If you’ve visited other Khmer sites in Cambodia or Thailand the similarities in building construction and art work are easily identifiable as one gets closer. The two opposing stone buildings are the North and South palaces with both being in various states of disrepair. Beyond the palaces is another stone pathway leading up to the seven sandstone terraces. At the top of the terraces is a sanctuary with some Khmer/Hindu carved figurines, similar to those seen at Angkor, on the outer wall corners. Within the sanctuary are a number of Buddha statues adding some colour to the rustic grey and brown hues of the sandstone. Behind the sanctuary are some interesting features. Directly to the rear is a flat granite cliff face with a number of small freshwater springs trickling out from the overhang. Along the base of the cliff a small track leads off to the right and ascends to a little plateau where a large footprint has been carved into the smooth face of the cliff. Apparently it is a representation of the Buddha’s foot. Dropping back down to the grassy flat area just behind the sanctuary, another trail leads off to the left where more rock carvings can be seen. The first and most imposing is that of an elephant, carved into a boulder almost the same size as a full sized tusked behemoth. Another flat rock has a depiction of a crocodile carved into it. The crocodile stone has acquired some notoriety as being possibly the site of an annual human sacrifice described in a sixth century Chinese text; the identification is lent some plausibility by the similarity of the crocodiles dimensions and those of a human. After taking some time to view the sanctuary and the surrounding stone carvings some nice photos can be taken from the edge of the plateau, looking out over the ruins and Barrays.