Pakse · Sports & events

The province's Lao League 1 side plays at Champasak Stadium, a 12,000-capacity ground just north of Dao Heuang market and the only top-flight venue in the south. It doubles as a concert and ceremony space, so check there is actually a match on.

At around 1,200m the plateau runs ten degrees cooler than the valley, and the 199km small loop is a genuinely rideable three to four days on a touring bike. Traffic is light and surfaces vary; the June to September rains turn the side roads to red mud.

Boun Suang Huea, usually in October, puts village crews on the water across Champasak province and the Mekong towns, with flower-and-candle boats and small bamboo rafts floated after dark. Free to watch from the bank, and the date shifts with the lunar calendar.

Sand courts sit beside houses, workshops and cafés all over Pakse and fill up in the late afternoon. Laos took the game from the French and takes it seriously enough to send teams to regional competition; ask politely and you will usually get a game.

From June to September the plateau roads slick over with red mud and the loop becomes a real crash risk on two wheels, even if the waterfalls are at their most impressive. November to February is dry, and cool enough on top that you will want a fleece — that is the season for anything on wheels or on foot.