From Pakse, a short trip (by boat or by tuk-tuk) takes travelers to Wat Phu, a ruined temple built by the Khmer Empire in the 9th century. Wat Phu is older than Angkor Wat, and it shows - it has the look and feel of a lost city, an overgrown Hindu place of worship now overtaken by Buddhism in the region.
Of the surrounding forests, Linda observes, "The whole area here is flat, except for a single mountain. This was the reason the place was chosen as a holy site." Mount Phu Kao (formerly called Lingaparvata) is important to Hindus - particularly devotees of the god Shiva - because of its natural linga, or post, at the peak.