The tourism sector in Bokeo province will undertake three development projects to attract visitors to stay longer in the province in coming years.

The tourism department will develop a hot spring and create tourist villages in Tonpheung district in the north of the province, an area that forms part of the Golden Triangle between Laos , Thailand and Myanmar .

Department Director, Mr Vanthong Chittakoun, this week said the department also planned to organise tourist activities including camping and kayaking in the Nam Nhon river in Houayxai district.

Other plans for the area include eco-tourism development in the area of Phouxifa mountain in Paktha district. The main tourist activities there will include rock climbing, camping and trekking.

Mr Vanthong said the Asian Development Bank had agreed to provide financial support and he expected the projects to begin in 2009.

Bokeo currently serves as a gateway for tourists who are travelling across the Mekong River to or from Chiang Rai province in Thailand .

“Of all the tourists who come to the province 80 percent of them will get on a boat and go to other provinces,” Mr Vanthong said.

A lot of tourists visit Bokeo, but most of them do not stay there because of the lack of tourist facilities. The city is currently just a transit route for visitors on their way to places such as Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang provinces, and Pakbaeng district of Oudomxay province.

A guesthouse manager in Houayxai district told Vientiane Times that many of his guests arrived via the Mekong River from Thailand and most stayed for only one night.

Bokeo has a lot of attractive tourist sites such as the Nam Nhon waterfall, hot springs and hill villages, but few of them have been developed or promoted.

Mr Vanthong said the province currently had few visitor attractions, although there was a nature tourism site in the Namkan conservation area, managed by a French investor.

This site is about 80km from the province's capital city Houayxai.

Another attraction is Donxao island in Tonpheung district, which is about 50km from the provincial capital. Many of the tourists who cross the Mekong River at Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai province stop at the island to buy souvenirs and handmade products.

More than 88,000 tourists have visited the province this year, an increase from the 20,000 visitors last year, according to statistics from the provincial tourism sector.

Vientianetimes

The renovation of the 36km-long road leading to Konglor Cave in Hinboun district, Khammuan province, will allow the passage of all vehicles to the cave from May, said a senior official yesterday.

At present the road is still under construction, and larger vehicles have been unable to navigate the detour road for the past two months.

Visitors to the cave are recommended to take a small vehicle if they want to experience this amazing cave.

The Director of the road-building project, Mr Somchay Khanthasane, told Vientiane Times yesterday that workers are asphalting the road so it is closed to traffic. Road users must temporarily use a detour road instead.

Mr Somchay said that although the road will open in May, it might be necessary to close it in the rainy season this year if the construction of two new bridges is not complete.



“We are now putting down the first layer of asphalt. We will continue the work after the rainy season and the road will be in perfect condition by the end of this year,” he said.

At the moment it takes three hours to get to the cave after leaving main road No A8, as the path passes through rice fields and is very bumpy. In the wet season it's almost impossible to get there.



Once the renovated road is finished, it should take just under one hour, said Mr Somchay.

The new road is costing about US$4.5 million to build. The Asian Development Bank has lent the Lao government more than 80 percent of the required funds, according to the Head of the Khammuan provincial Tourism Administration, Mr Thayaphone Singthong .

He said the road upgrade is part of tourism development in the province.

“Tourism development is very important for people living near the cave and will help to contribute to poverty reduction,” he said.

The 7.5km-long cavern that has been earmarked as a tourist attraction was discovered in the 16th century under the leadership of the governor of Nalae district, now Nakai district.

In 1997, the government invited French experts to survey the area before declaring it an official tourist site in 2002.



Mr Thayaphone recalled that in 2002 only eight foreign visitors came to the cave, but this number had increased rapidly since then.

The cave is 30 metres wide and between 20 and 100 metres high and is located in the National Protected Forest Area of Hinboun Mountain.

More than 100 foreign visitors make the journey to the cave each month on average, he said.

Mr Thayaphone said that in the past the cave was not seen as a source of income for local people, but had now become an important money-earner for many in the area.

“Unspoiled natural destinations have the potential to attract more tourists to the province,” he said.

Community-based ecotourism services, including village home-stays and boat trips through the cave, are provided by local people who proudly keep local customs alive.

By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
Vientianetimes

Once again, the famous Age's travel blog has listed Laos as a must-to-visit for all backpackers. Here are what they say about Laos and Columnbia !


Photo: rice field in Laos

Holidays for people taking gap years are not complete without a trip to Colombia and Laos, it has been reported.

According to The Age's travel blog, Colombia is "cheap" and has beautiful beaches as well as great culture.

Additionally, it reports that Colombia contains Popayan, the world's only UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

"You can't throw a rock in South America without hitting some hippy tourist who'll talk for hours about the 'awesome' time they had in Colombia. Take me there," the travel blog author enthuses.

Another top backpacker destination is listed as being Laos.

The blog writer asks how it is possible to call himself a backpacker without having travelled to the destination.

Laos is bordered by Burma and China and boasts two World Heritage Sites which are Luang Prabang and Wat Phou.

Source: Age's travel blog