Our very own Khone Pha Pheng waterfall is the Lao Niagra, and the greatest and most beautiful waterfall in southeast Asia. It falls into "Li Phi", a place where the Mekong takes a deep before continuing its course into the South China Sea, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Khone Pha Pheng waterfall is located around 160km from Pakse and it takes about one or two hours to get there depending on the speed of your vehicle. There are souvenir shops and restaurants at the waterfall so it's not necessary to bring food.
It was during the dry season when our crew arrived to shoot the pictures at the Khone Pha Peng waterfall, so the water level remained fairly low and the waterfall wasn't really massive as we've been used to seeing, but it runs every day because the Mekong River never dries out. At the waterfall there is also the beautiful Dok champa, the national flower of Laos!
Not too far from the Khone Pha Peng waterfall is a rare freshwater species called the Irrawaddy dolphins (or Pah Kha in Lao language). The Irrawaddy dolphins are a major attraction for tourism, as they are only found in this part of Asia!
There used to be around a thousand of them 30 years ago but there are now only 80 to 100 dolphins living in the river due to extensive fishing by the local people.
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