Laos - attractions, interesting facts and places, culture, nature, traditions. Congo Falls, Central West Africa

It attracts Europeans with its unusual history, beautiful nature, originality and originality. One of the most unique natural sites located in the country is Khon Waterfall, also known as Kon.

Story

Located near the border with the state in the province of Champasak. Its seething streams originate from the Mekong River. Khon's fame came in 1920, when the scientist Khokhan explored the area around the largest water artery in Laos. Years later, the waterfall was named after the traveler who discovered it to the world.

What is a waterfall?

The Kon waterfall has a cascade-like structure. It includes several small springs falling from different heights. The Khon plateau and waterfall are a fascinating sight, because in addition to hundreds of tons of water falling from the peaks, rare flowers and herbs grow here.

The Laotian Khon waterfall drops its waters from a height of 21 m. Its width exceeds 10 km, so Khon is the widest waterfall on our planet. In addition, it is one of the most beautiful waterfalls on Earth and is under the protection of government authorities (it is part of one of the reserves) and the world community.

Source Features

Today, many tourists seek to find themselves in the Kona area. The area near the waterfall is equipped with observation platforms, making it accessible for inspection. There are convenient hiking trails. Among tourists you can often meet people with various diseases. Scientists have proven the beneficial effects of Khon waters on the human nervous and endocrine systems.

How to get there?

It is possible to get to the waterfall only by car. The coordinates will help you: 13°56′53″, 105°56′26″. If desired, you can get to the place by taxi or excursion bus.

Kon Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. It is registered under the protection of a national reserve and is recognized as a national treasure of the Earth. Kon Falls is located on the Mekong River. The width of its drainage area is thirteen kilometers.

Kon (Khon) Falls is the calmest of all the waterfalls. His disposition is most favorable to sick people.

The power of this waterfall is aimed at a calming effect, it has magical energy. Many people who visited the Kon waterfall were convinced of its positive effect on the human body.
Kohn was discovered in 1920 by researcher E. Khokhan and was named after him.

Kon Falls is a cascading structure; like Victoria, it includes many waterfalls flowing from different levels of the Mekong Plateau. The beauty of this waterfall comes from the vibrant colorful flowers growing along its banks.
Kon is also a well-accessible spot for observation.
Its viewing area is well landscaped. Tourists appreciate this.

Many extreme sports enthusiasts have tried to conquer the Kon waterfall, and many have succeeded. Cohn almost always favors this. But fatalities also happened there. But this happened mainly due to the little or insufficient preparation of the conquerors.

It is a series of cascades of rapids, slides and waterfalls, 3 of which have a drop of 15 to 21 m (with a width of 0.8 to 1.7 km).

The average water consumption is 10 - 12 thousand m3/sec, the highest (in summer and autumn) up to 30 thousand m3/sec.

The widest waterfall in the world is located in Southeast Asia, in Indochina. Kon, or Khon, is located on the Mekong River 15 km from Don Khon Island on the border of Laos and Cambodia.

Khon Falls is the widest waterfall in the world.

Khon Waterfall on the Mekong River is located in Laos near the village of Khon near the border with Cambodia. In the area of ​​the waterfall, the Mekon River is divided into many branches so that the total width of the waterfall is about 20 km with a height difference of up to 21 m. There is a park near the Khon waterfall. The waterfall can be reached from both the Laotian and Cambodian sides. Khon Falls is the main obstacle to navigation along the Mekong River along its entire length.

The easiest way to get to Khon Waterfall is from the Laotian town of Pakse, which has an international airport. We arrived in Pakse by plane from Luang Probang. Being pressed for time, we immediately agreed with the taxi driver at Pakse airport that he would take us to the central cascade of the Khon waterfall (about 120 km one way), give us 2 hours of time to communicate with this miracle of nature, and then return us to Pakse and drop you off at our pre-booked hotel.

The driver charged us $235 for the service. I offered the option of paying $100 in advance and the same amount upon return to Pakse. We stopped there. I note that taxi drivers can take you to several branches of the Khon Falls. At the same time, the duration and cost of the excursion will increase.

About 1.5 hours of driving along the highway and we approach the calm riverbed of the Mekong. Then the park around the waterfall begins. We purchase entrance tickets for $10 per person. Then you can walk or ride along the paths of the park on local carts. You can feel the approach of a waterfall by the sound of water and rapids in the river.

Finally we come out to the equipped observation deck and see the central cascade of the Khon waterfall as in the pictures of advertising brochures.

You can go down to the water and walk along a wooden bridge made of reeds to the seething stream.

To the right and left of the central cascade we see the side streams of the Khon Falls.

Below Khon Falls, the Mekong flow gradually calms down, although there are many rocks along the shore.

After the excursion we return to Pakse. Our hotel has a rooftop pool where you can swim and at the same time admire the town of Pakse from above.

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In the southern part of Laos, just 3.5 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, you can find a low but remarkable waterfall. It’s more likely not a waterfall, but a cascade of waterfalls and rapids called Khon. Its full name is Khonephapheng Waterfall, but in the world it is better known as Khon Falls (sometimes, however, you can find the name Kon).

Khon Falls on the map

• Geographic coordinates 13.960612, 105.986591
• The distance from the capital of Laos, Vientiane, is approximately 600 km in a straight line (if you use roads, the distance is 820 km)
• The nearest Wattay airport is the same distance, since it is located in the capital
• One very well-known website for selling airline tickets points to the airport in the city of Attapa, 180 km to the northeast, but we did not find any runway in this locality. Google Maps didn't find an airport there either.

Khon Falls is located on the Mekong River in Champasak Province. In these places, the river bed is a giant web of channels, streams and branches. Their total width sometimes reaches 10 kilometers. Plus a large number of thresholds and drops. All this creates an insurmountable barrier to navigation along the river in these places.

Just above are the coordinates of the largest rapids at Khon Falls. Its height is about 21 meters. It is officially believed that the width of the cascades of the Khon Falls is about 10 km, and their length is 9.7 km. There are even opinions that this waterfall is the widest in the world. There are a number of factors in favor of this, and arguments refuting this opinion. If you consider the entire width of the river bed here, then Khon Falls is undoubtedly the widest in the world. But if we break this entire set into separate waterfalls, then the indicators are already tens and hundreds of times more modest. It all depends on the measurement technique.

An interesting feature of Khon Falls is that it is a rather calm and even peaceful waterfall, which with its uniform noise instills peace and relaxation no worse than the Japanese Shiraito Falls. Although Khon's volume is certainly superior to Shiraito's.

There is a small cafe and observation deck nearby. You can not only immerse yourself in contemplation, but also take spectacular photographs in the surrounding area or on the rocks. Just remember the basic safety rules. No photo is worth a broken leg.

It is believed that the waterfall was first discovered in 1920 by an explorer and traveler named Khokhan. Subsequently, this landmark of Laos was named after him. But we did not find any reliable information on this matter. Moreover, there is evidence that at the end of the 19th century, French colonialists tried to establish shipping in these areas, but they failed. If you have information on this matter, please let us know.