Around Savannakhet

Vegetable gardens on the Mekong in Savannakhet, looking towards Thailand

Savannakhet is a former outpost of French Indochina – I’ve joked that it’s where you got sent as a diplomat if you’d blotted your copybook badly, but not so badly that they sent you home in disgrace.  Laos was the buffer of Indochina – largely protecting French interests in the more asset-rich states of Cambodia and Vietnam from the (dastardly, of course) Thais.  Now, it’s a sleepy town, quite probably the largest south of Vientiane, which primarily exists to serve the agricultural communities around it.  There’s also a Friendship Bridge into north east Thailand – it’s possible to get from Savannakhet to Bangkok in a (long) day.

Many urban people still grow their own vegetables, if they have the land.  It’s not so much a hobby as to ensure food security – much the same way that my government-employed (job for life!) colleagues still grow rice each wet season: they’re not sure they’ll receive all their salary.

Down near the Mekong there is a large and beautiful old tree outside a wat.  Many people who can’t afford a stupa to house the ashes of a loved one put the ashes in or near a revered tree, to keep the dead person’s spirit safe.  As well as homing a lot of spirits this tree also has its own spirit house to keep its own spirits safe J

In the old part of Savannakhet there’s an elegant old square, surrounded by older, decaying French style buildings.  At one end of the square is the church – there is a small Catholic congregation still using the building today.  I’ve heard hymns (I recognise the tune but not the words!) on Saturday nights.

I think there are at least six different tiles on this staircase...you should see the hallway!

My guesthouse displays an eclectic array of tiles – it feels like it’s a matter of how many job ends could they introduce into one room!  My favourite is the faux wood tile – it was so bad it took me years to figure out that it was meant to be wood.

My room at the guesthouse...faux wooden tiles are along the walls, faux linoleum (!) on the floor

At one farm I visited a few years ago the farmer had brought back some dyed chickens from Thailand for his kids...apparently the young chicks are dipped in permanent dye (it doesn’t hurt them, he assured me!) and the feathers stay coloured until they grow out, when the fowls return to normal chicken-colours.