August 19th, 2007
If you have never heard of Savannakhet in Laos there is probably a good reason for it. Savannakhet is not exactly a hot tourist destination and not the place to go if you are looking for a wild Asian adventure or a fast paced and exciting good time. However, Savannakhet in Laos is an ideal destination to escape to if you need a break from living in the sometimes hectic and culturally unpredictable Thailand. I spent a few days in Savannakhet, Laos for exactly this reason and it was a great location to relax and rejuvenate with absolutely nothing to do and no computer to keep me company.
One thing that has become clearer and clearer to me as I have gotten older is I need some regular time to be with just myself with no pressure or influence from the outside world. Choosing to spend a few days in Savannakhet, Laos was just what I needed and now that I am back in Thailand and busy again with my daily schedule I feel like my batteries have been fully recharged, well at least till my next mini Asian escape.
To get to Laos I took a 12 hour overnight bus ride from Pattaya (2 hours south of Bangkok) to Mukdahan in Northern Thailand. From the Mukdahan bus station I caught another bus to the Thailand/Laos border which is only about 10 minutes drive away. A new bridge called the Friendship 2 bridge has just been opened in the last 12 months which crosses the Mekong River into Savannakhet, Laos. You need to go through the formalities on either side of the bridge by first submitting your departure card with the Thai authorities and having your passport cleared and stamped and then fill in and submit your arrival card once you cross the bridge and arrive in Laos.
On arrival in Laos you also need to get a Laos tourist visa but here is where you can save yourself some money. You can pay for the visa in Laos currency but chances are you won’t have any, US dollars or Thai baht. Since Thailand neighbors Laos, the use of Thai baht seems to be widespread in Laos and I used mainly baht when I was there but got the change in Laos Kip. However, it seems the Laos border immigration officials have not yet realized the US dollar has considerably dropped in value over the last year or so and were charging either 1,500 baht or the “supposed” equivalent of $30US. Currently $30US is worth approximately 1,000 baht and fortunately I had US currency on me and so I saved 500 baht which paid for most of my accommodation while I was in Laos.
It is a breeze getting into Laos once you have paid for the visa, I do not even think there was any type of baggage check, if there was I did not notice it. Just like in all South East Asian countries there is a line up of taxi or tuk tuk drivers waiting for you once you clear immigration to take you where you want to go. In Laos almost no one speaks English but many of them know how to speak Thai so I was able to talk with them and at least tell them where to take me. Most of them know the word, hotel, but that is about the extent of their English vocabulary but once you arrive at a hotel, someone at the hotel will surely speak enough English to help you navigate your way around town. I didn’t even bother to book a hotel, I just told the tuk tuk driver where approximately I wanted to be dropped off in Savannakhet town and I found a conveniently located hotel myself. Savannakhet town is only about 10 minutes from the border so do not let the driver sting you for the tuk tuk ride. He originally asked me for 200 baht but I only paid 100 which was still probably a bit steep.
There is no Hilton or Sheraton in Savannakhet so if that is what you are used to I doubt Savannakhet, Laos will be the sort of place to push your buttons and would advise against going there but if you are used to basic and I really mean basic accommodation, like backpacker hostels and guesthouses you will feel right at home in Savannakhet. I stayed at the Nongsoda Guesthouse which is conveniently located alongside the Mekong River and is only about 2 minutes walk to the Thai Embassy if you need a new Thai tourist visa. From the Nongsoda Guesthouse I walked in all directions and found a number of small outlets to eat Laos food and a few Asian style convenient shops but they do not offer much for the typical Westerner. Unlike Thailand, Laos does not offer a wide selection of tasty Asian foods but what they do offer is very cheap and enough to survive on for a few days at least.
On my first day walking around Savannakhet, Laos the one thing I quickly noticed was how few foreigners are there. It was so obvious that after a few hours of walking around the main streets I had not seen a single foreign tourist and soon understood why everyone was staring at me. Into the afternoon however I did walk past a convenience store and noticed a foreigner inside who came out to greet me. As it turned out he was Swiss and had opened this small Western grocery shop about a year ago but was not making a bucket load of money out of it but when I asked him what was it like to live in Savannakhet his response was “it is ok if you have something to do, if you do not keep yourself busy, you would go crazy”. I could completely understand where he was coming from and I had only arrived in town that morning. I told him he was the first foreigner I had seen since I arrived in Savannakhet and he said sometimes he can go weeks without seeing any tourists but it gave him a new perspective on life with almost no Western influence.
Over my few days in Savannakhet Laos I did see a handful of other foreigners although I only spoke to one of them. I spoke to an English fellow who told me he lives in Thailand but comes to Savannakhet a few times each year to get away from the world and write music since it was so relaxing and laid back. It was certainly laid back, that’s for sure, if I was any more laid back I would have fallen over. The one thing that was very refreshing was there were no beggars on the streets, no one trying to sell me a shiny cigarette lighter in the shape of a penis, a pair or plastic scissors or an Osama Bin Laden t-shirt, yes believe it or not Osama t-shirts are for sale all over Thailand but your guess is as good as mine in regards to who actually buys them. I thought beggars and walking junk salesmen were just a part of the South East Asian experience but I did not see any in Savannakhet.
In all the countries I have visited in South East Asia, most of the people have been quite friendly and exceptionally polite to me but in Laos I must say the people there were evenly more friendly than anywhere I had ever been before. As I walked the streets, the kids I saw playing along the roadside were giving me big smiles and saying hello in English and were waving at me as I walked by. When I waved back or said hello they were giggling and jumping up and down like I was giving away free toys. Even adults were saying hello and waving at me which is rare since most adult Asians are quite shy but this didn’t seem to be the case in Savannakhet. This gave me a really warm feeling inside and was further confirmation of what I have always thought and that is that it is the local people who are the ones who are responsible for making any destination a great place to be.
To be completely honest, all I did for the few days I was in Savannakhet Laos was read my book while sitting alongside the Mekong river under the trees, walk the streets just looking around and occasionally eat and sleep but I thoroughly enjoyed doing nothing for a few days and didn’t realize it till I got back to my home in Thailand that I had a fresh dose of new energy to channel into my various endeavors. Like I said earlier, it might not be the ideal location for the action junkie or the 5 star tourist but if you want to get away, do nothing and not spend a lot of money, Savannakhet in Laos is worth a few days out of your life to recharge and refocus.
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