Qualla: Paksong https://qualla.com/paksong en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:36 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Paksong https://qualla.com/paksong Paksong: Introduction https://qualla.com/paksong/ The drive up from Pakse takes about ninety minutes and several hundred vertical metres, and somewhere in the climb the air changes. The heat that blankets the Mekong lowlands simply stops. By the time you reach Paksong, the temperature has dropped enough to make you reach for a layer you didn't expect to need in southern Laos. At 1,300 metres above sea level on the Bolaven Plateau — a vast basalt tableland formed by ancient volcanic activity — Paksong sits in a climate that has nothing to do with the tropics below. It is cool year-round. Rain comes heavy and reliable. And in that rain-washed soil, on farms stretching out from the main road in every direction, grows some of the finest coffee in Southeast Asia.

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/e/w/paksong-wk/w6ew-paksong-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Paksong: The Plateau That Coffee Made https://qualla.com/paksong/ The Bolaven Plateau's elevation and volcanic soils were recognised by French colonial planters in the late 19th century as near-ideal for arabica cultivation. Coffee came to the plateau during the colonial period and never left. Today, the farms around Paksong produce a significa...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/e/w/paksong-wk/w6ew-paksong-the-plateau-that-coffee-made.mp3 0:06 2 full Paksong: A Town That Runs on Coffee and Quiet https://qualla.com/paksong/ Paksong itself is small enough to walk end-to-end without planning. The main road from Pakse is also the main road through town; the street grid, such as it is, fans off from that highway in short branches of dust and low buildings. At the market in the morning, vendors sell fres...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/e/w/paksong-wk/w6ew-paksong-a-town-that-runs-on-coffee-and-quiet.mp3 0:06 3 full Paksong: Cool When the Lowlands Burn https://qualla.com/paksong/ From March through May, when the Mekong valley below bakes in pre-monsoon heat and Pakse temperatures routinely exceed 38 degrees Celsius, Paksong offers an alternative that Lao families with the means to travel take advantage of. The plateau acts as a natural air conditioner: el...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/e/w/paksong-wk/w6ew-paksong-cool-when-the-lowlands-burn.mp3 0:06 4 full Paksong: On the Edge of Catastrophe https://qualla.com/paksong/ The Bolaven Plateau and Paksong sit near the epicentre of one of Laos's worst modern disasters. In July 2018, Saddle Dam D of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric project — a large dam complex constructed partly on the plateau's southern slopes — collapsed during heavy monsoon rai...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/e/w/paksong-wk/w6ew-paksong-on-the-edge-of-catastrophe.mp3 0:06 5 full