South East Asian Trips

With its great forests of limestone karst scenery receding into the distance like an image in a Chinese scroll painting, Laos is a great destination for cave exploring, spelunking and rock-climbing. Prime areas for limestone karst scenery in Laos include Vang Viang, Kasi, Thakhet and Viang Xai. For most tourists, cave exploring is limited to climbing up to and wandering around in caves that are fairly touristy and have clearly defined pathways. Serious spelunkers can find vast cave and tunnel systems to explore in the Khammouane Limestone NBCA and the Hin Nam No NBCA, but should seek local permission before launching any major expeditions as many caves have yet to have archeological surveys done. With so many awesome unclimbed and unnamed peaks, rock-climbing is one sport that seems to have a huge future in Laos. At present the sport is still in its infancy with the country's first bolted cliff face, featuring sixteen routes graded 5b to 8c, recently opened in Vang Viang, but new routes should follow soon.