Thakek

View outside my hotel door of the carpark (with stunning poinciana trees in full blush) and Mekong behind

Thakek is the largest city in Khammouane Province.  I've driven through it a lot - it's at least a third if not a half of the way from Vientiane to Savannakhet - and there are a couple of good lunch options there.  I never thought it was more than a pretty dusty halt on the main north-south road but, it turns out, once you get away from the highway and head towards the Mekong, into Thakek proper, it's a lovely little town.  I imagine Savannakhet used to be similarly laid back and in a state which appears to be about three monsoons off decay before the Vietnamese money (through the casino, SavanVegas, yes truly) started rolling in.  Oh, and the dinosaur museum drawcard.

Along the Mekong outside the hotel

The hotel was right on the Mekong - the perfect place for an early morning walk.  Many, many people in Thakek exercise in the mornings - it's a great way to practice my extremely limited Lao - I kept walking after each "Sabaidee!" so as not to embarrass myself!

Tables set up for beer and snacks...much of Laos is just perfect for a sundowner on the Mekong!

The outdoor furniture here, as in many other places in Laos, is concrete tables and stools with tiled tops (again with the tile obsession!).  These are easy to clean, hard to damage and don't go anywhere - they're extremely heavy and difficult to move.  They are, also, a little hard but the second and subsequent BeerLao help with that!

Thakek town square at first light

There's a town square in Thakek - it looks French vintage to me and is so similar to the one in Savannakhet I was surprised not to see a church surviving in this one too.

French provincial buildings on the square, with fancy modern cars

There are several magnificent older style French buildings still standing.  I've no idea what they're like inside but they look amazing from the outside.  Some seem to be used as private homes.

This building near the ferry terminus is now a pub...looks amazing; I wish I'd had time to pop inside!

Unusually, the village we visited on this trip was right on a reasonable-sized river - in fact the communal meeting area was built out over the river.  It was a beautiful space with lovely cool breezes, although the rockets being let off all around (we visited just before the official rocket festival but people have to test their rockets before the big day!) were a bit disconcerting as a background to our talks with farmers.

View from the village meeting pavilion.  Rocketeers in the foreground on the pontoon

We had two vehicle challenges on our day away from Thakek - as we were driving out in the morning something in one of our three vehicles (unfortunately the minivan with the most people in it) snapped, a whole lot of liquid gushed onto the road, and apparently the steering went.  Fortunately we weren't going fast, and we were still in town!  We pushed the minvan to the side of the road, repacked everyone and everything into a slightly squishier arrangement (it was a good thing there was only one falang lady and four Lao ladies, as the falang definitely took up more space!) and headed off to the village.

When it came time to leave the village and drive back to Thakek our poor driver discovered a puncture (again, good thing it happened when it did!).  We all sat round under a huge tree, fanning ourselves and making the water last while our driver replaced the tyre with great professionalism (no swearing!) and speed.  This was the first time I'd seen concrete-and-tile benches all around a tree.  If only they came with cushions too...

Such a variety of contrasting tiles so beautifully fitted together