At first sight, Pakse seems to be simply a gateway to other places, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Once you are here, take some time and explore the hidden treasures of Pakse.
If you wander around a little, you’ll soon discover old French Colonial Buildings, a Vietnamese quarter, Buddhist and Chinese temples and an old Catholic church, or you can sit and have a freshly brewed Bolaven Coffee or Lao tea while watching people and life go by.
Stepping inside the Champasak Palace Hotel it’s easy to see why it was once the claimed home of the last prince of Southern Laos, Chao Boon Oum. You will appreciate this when you see its grandiose 7 stories, arched balconies, high ceilings and 115 rooms.
There are no less than 1,000 doors and windows sculptured in traditional Laotian style, which gave rise to the name “Thousand Room Pavillion”
Construction on the palace began in 1969, only to be interrupted by the communist revolution of 1974. Chao Boon Oum had to flee to France and leave his Pakse palace unfinished. It was then used to host Communist party congresses before finally opening as Champasak Palace Hotel in 1995. It has since been renovated and remains a fascinating real life peek into Laos’s royal days of old.
