Discover Happiness
Khammouane, meaning “happy gold”, is believed to have been named after the gold deposits found in the area hundreds of years ago. Today its treasures are to be found by all those who set out with a spirit of adventure and seek it.
Welcome to
Khammouane Province,
Lao PDR
Discover Nature
Khammouane is a land of rugged karst mountains, a dreamlike landscape that has served as a sanctuary for a number of wild animals that were unknown to scientists until the 1990s.
Discover History
The province’s history dates back as early as the 6th-8th centuries when the region was part of the Sikhottabong Kingdom. Remnants of the ancient civilization include the Great Wall (Kampaeng Yark), Meuang Phone Stupa, and Sikhottabong Stupa – one of the most sacred in Laos.
Khammouane Province, which covers an area of 16,315 square kilometres (6,299 sq mi) and is mostly of forested mountainous terrain, is bordered by Bolikhamsai Province to the north and northwest, Vietnam to the east, Savannakhet Province to the south, and Thailand to the west. The vast forests of the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area are an important watershed that feed many Mekong tributaries as well as form the catchment area for Nam Theun 2, the largest hydropower project in Laos. The Xe Bangfay, Nam Hinboun and Nam Theun are the main rivers of the province.
We invite you to tour The Loop, explore our myriad rivers and caves, be awed by the landscapes or get a deeper understanding of our culture and people.
Discover Khammouane
This Central Laos province has long been a place of travel and of sanctuary.
A land of rugged karst mountains, it was home to an ancient civilization in the 6th-8th Centuries, and became the refuge of a succession of ethnic groups fleeing northern invasions during the 19th century. In the Vietnam War era, the famed Mu Gia pass was one of the main transit points of the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Khammouane’s dreamlike landscape has served as a sanctuary for a number of wild animals unknown to scientists until the 1990s. The khan you, a small rodent-like creature the size of a small squirrel, was found in Khammouane in the early 21st century and possibly will be the last remaining mammalian family to be described on earth. And just possibly the last remaining saola might be walking its forested slopes…
Make the journey of a lifetime
The Loop is a 450km journey with over 30 scenic sites to visit in Khammouane and Bolikhamxay provinces. You can take several days to travel around it all. Or explore a part of it now, and come back another time to discover more.
Motorcycle through limestone karst landscapes… Follow an underground river through the Konglor Cave… Take a ‘bomb boat’ upstream… Sip a Beerlao lakeside at sunset… Take a jungle trek to a stunning waterfall… Or simply refresh in jade green waters...
Discover how the mountains, rivers and caves around you were made over millions of years. Find out how people have sheltered here from war and upheaval over hundreds of years. Uncover the legends of a landscape that is a refuge for special animals, plants and birds. Get to know the people who live here today through their own stories, foods and festivals.
The Loop is a journey through time.
Venture deep within
Virtually unknown to the outside world until a National Geographic survey in 2008, the Xe Bang Fai River Cave is one of the largest active river cave passages on earth. The grandeur of the limestone chamber, the spectacular natural decorations, flowstones and cave crystals provide an eerie beauty rarely experienced.
Formed as the Xe Bangfai River, whose source is in the Annamite range between Laos and Vietnam, “loses” itself for 7 km beneath the limestone karst mountains of the Hin Nam No National Protected Area, this giant tunnel is navigable by tourists for 2km until a section of rapids is encountered.
Traditionally, villagers thought this to be the source of the Xe Bang Fai River and knew it as Tham Khoun Xe, meaning “the cave at the source of the river.”