Laos’ best kept secret goes UNESCO

Text by: Jason Rolan

Photos by: Phoonsab Thevongsa

Hin Nam No National Park is a natural marvel that spans 94,121 hectares in Khammouane Province, southeastern Laos. This biodiverse and stunningly beautiful protected zone was inscribed as the country’s fourth UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2025, forming the world’s first transboundary natural heritage site with Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. 

From above, the scenery is one of the most surreal in Laos, with towering jagged limestone karsts rising like sawteeth from an unbroken carpet of pristine jungle. The park’s name means “mountain crest, spiky as bamboo shoots” in Lao, and captures the unusual panoramic views created by 300 million years of geological forces. 

Among 173 documented caverns, Xe Bang Fai Cave is a highlight. This 11km underground river system features passages that soar 120 meters high and stretch 200 meters wide, making it one of the largest active cave rivers in the world, and even has its own ecosystem! 

As it’s not on the typical tourist circuit, Hin Nam No retains a raw, untouched quality—a last refuge for rare species in one of Indochina’s most intact limestone wilderness areas.

Getting there:

Lao Airlines has daily flights to Savannakhet, from there it’s a 200km drive to the Xe Bang Fai Cave.