After a spectacular descent along the forest eastern flank of the Bolaven Plateau, the dirt road from Pakxong winds into remote Attapu. A cozy settlement of Almost 20,000 people, most of whom are Vietnamese, Chinese or Lao Loum, the capital of Lao’s southeastern most province occupies a bend in the Xekong river just south of where it is joined by the Xe Kaman river. Reliant on the poorly engineered road from Pakxong and temporarily without a bus service to its northern neighbor, Xekong Attapu can be difficult to reach, especially in the rainy season when the roads turn to pudding, but it’s well worth the journey.
It was near this distant outpost that the Ho Chi Minh Trail diverged, with one artery running south towards Cambodia and the other into South Vietnam. But despite its role as the final staging point in Lao for North Vietnamese supplies, Attapu somehow eluded the grave effects of war that wiped other southern cities off the map.