Savannakhet in 1 day...

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My day being pretty much over in savannakhet, I was surprised by the French influence, not dissimilar to that of Luang Prabang although catering less for tourists. It ís the second largest city in Laos after Vientiane, which having walked through it I found rather suprising.

Historically this provincial capital was a French trading outpost, and wandering around town you'll still find the occasional trader's house, both French and Chinese merchants made the town their home.

The sleepy southern Lao province stretches from Thailand to the west to Vietnam to the east. The name means, 'Golden Land' and was historically touted as the place to find the 'best of the best' in Laos

It is a warren of small streets surrounding the catholic church and many 30's-50's style buildings can be seen here. Locals are going about their daily business, washing clothes, cleaning floors and generally making a business from their home.

It is a sleepy town, a place that time forgot. There’s not even a lot of souls walking the streets so there’s hardly local colour to be observed. It somehow feels like their local inhabitants have migrated elsewhere. Though I'm not sure where.

It ís the lást place you would ễxpect to find a dinosaur múseum , but one of the city’s pride is their Dinosaur Museum. The reason behind this is that the province of Savannakhet has turned out to be an exciting paleontological treasure – having dug dinosaur bones from 5 sites in the area. Dinosaur bones have been unearthed and preserved in their museum, located at a colonial building along Khantabuli Road.

There are many buildings undergoing renovation and a small area is being re-developed near the church to incorporate a nice fountain.

The river front is still undeveloped and very rustic. Very pretty though.

I'm just going to go out for something to eat now and then plan to get an early'ish night before my bus to Pakse tomorrow.

Love to all xx

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