Vientiane - Lao authorities in the central province of Khammuan are seeking international investors to help them promote their “Giant Wall” as a tourist attraction.
The kilometres-long Kamphaeng Nyak wall in Khammuan is actually a geological phenomenon caused by fissures, but its physical resemblance to a man-made structure has given rise to Lao myths on its origin, according to the Vientiane Times.
“Based on local legend, it is an animal trap built by an ancient people who had large bodies like giants and stood as high as the sky,” said Kong Chai, village chief of Mai Phosy. The 15-metre-high ridge runs past his village.
“They were really big, so the wall they built was big too,” he said.
The “Giant Wall,” runs from the Namdone River past the provincial capital of Thakhek, with its highest section rimming Mai Phosy village.
“The place itself is enchanting but at the moment it remains hidden from view and very few people know about it,” said Bounthavy Sisombath of the Khammuan Information, Culture and Tourism Department.
“The province has plans to develop the site so that tourists can come here in comfort, but we need an investor.”
Khammoun province, about 320 kilometres south-east of Vientiane, currently attracts few foreign tourists and has few tourist facilities.
Besides the Giant Wall, the province also boasts an abandoned railway track built by the French in the colonial period. It was intended to connect Laos and Vietnam, but was never completed. - Sapa-dpa