Laos Highlights

Vang Vieng is one of the most dramatically beautiful towns in Southeast Asia — a small town on the Nam Song River in central Laos, surrounded by extraordinary karst limestone mountains, turquoise rivers, and a network of caves. The town is famous for its outdoor activities — kayaking, tubing, rock climbing, and hot air ballooning — and for the extraordinary Blue Lagoon (Tham Phu Kham), where a turquoise pool at the base of a limestone cliff is one of the most beautiful swimming spots in Laos. The surrounding countryside — with its rice paddies, traditional Lao villages, and extraordinary mountain scenery — is best explored by bicycle.

The 4,000 Islands (Si Phan Don) is the most relaxing destination in Southeast Asia — a vast archipelago of islands in the Mekong River in southern Laos, where the river widens to 14km and splits into thousands of channels. The main islands — Don Det, Don Khon, and Don Khong — have no cars, no traffic lights, and an atmosphere of extraordinary peace. The Khone Phapheng Falls — the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia by volume — are on the Cambodian border. The rare Irrawaddy dolphins — one of the world's most endangered river dolphins — can be seen in the pools between Don Khon and the Cambodian border.