Description : Champasak (Lao: ຈຳປາສັກ ) is a small town in southern Laos, on the west bank of the Mekong River about 40 km south of Pakse, the capital of Champasak Province. The town was once the seat of the Kingdom of Champasak, an independent Lao state which was abolished by the French in 1945 when they created the Kingdom of Laos, but the last King of Champasak had his palace in Pakse. Today the town is very small, consisting mostly of guesthouses along the riverbank, catering to tourists visiting the Wat Phu temple ruins some 10 km away. Vat Phou (or Wat Phu; Lao: ວັດພູ temple-mountain) is a ruined Khmer Hindu temple complex in southern Laos. It is at the base of mount Phou Khao, some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the Mekong in Champasak Province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries. It has a unique structure: The elements lead to a shrine where a lingam dedicated to Lord Shiva was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a centre of Theravada Buddhist Warrior's worship, birth grounds for warrior offsprings, which it remains today.
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