Savannakhet (17-20 Oct 12)

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Continuing my journey back northwards, past Pakse where I entered Laos, and into Savannakhet, another border town connected to Thailand via a Friendship bridge across the Mekong. Savannakhet is Laos's second largest city after it's capital Vientiane, but you wouldn't have guessed it walking around downtown. The place almost always seems deserted!

But the signs of prosperity due to the influx of Thais from across the border, as well as Vietnamese who enter from the east, are obvious. Plenty of banks, guesthouses and hotels, as well as some boutique cafes, and relatively good roads. There must be a lot more tourist dollars/ baht/ dong pouring in since the building of the Savan Vegas Casino just outside of town. Baht is essentially legal tender here (tuk tuk drivers quote in Baht first), and with Thai seemingly spoken almost as much as Lao here, it's hard to remember this isn't actually Thailand.

Nevertheless, all the glitz and glam (or rather smoke and sleaze) of the casino, and the busloads of punters being shuttled around aside, the city retains many of the small-town characteristics you would expect from peaceful Lao.

Case in point -- I walked into a tailor shop one day, hoping to fix the broken zips on my pants and shorts (cos I was too cheap to buy new ones, even in Laos!) The auntie said she couldn't do it for me, but knew someone else who could, so she asked me to hop on her motorbike, and brought me there. Just not something I can imagine in my hometown of Singapore...

Stayed at Leena Guesthouse.

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Photos

Plaza and Catholic Church
Mid-day and not a person in sight! Wonder where everyone is...

Savan Vegas Casino
Yes, so that's where everyone has gone to! Location 10 km outside the downtown area does little to deter hard-up punters...

Savan Vegas Casino
Classic -- no windows, clocks, mirrors or natural light.

Casino Royale
Ok, not quite, but in gambling town Savannakhet even the makeshift stalls by the Mekong cater to itchy punters. In this game you choose some animal(s), then draw an envelope which has three pictures inside. The payout depends on the number of pictures matching the animal(s) you bet on.

Late Night Petanque
Walking around at night, I noticed several such places, literally mini-arena with multiple petanque fields (?) A relic from the French colonial days, still extremely popular amongst the locals, young and old, though it seems to be a men-only game.

Savannakhet Museum
Some artefacts from pre-history, and lotsa photos from more recent times, especially the Vietnam War and Independence era.

Lin's Cafe
Needless to say, THE BEST IN THE WORLD!

Dinosaur Museum
Yes, they found dinosaur fossils and bones in Savannakhet province a couple of decades ago. Not quite a full skeleton though, as you can see from the photo. Mr Saur is missing several bones still!

Wat in Progress
So they're not really that old after all?!?

I Love Goooooold!
Jewellery stores and goldsmiths-only on the second floor of the Savanxay Market, aka Singapore Market cos it was apparently started by an enterprising Singaporean investor. Hmmm...