Welcome
to my little corner of the cyber-highway.
My name is Allan, I have been around 4½ years in Thailand, before I
decided that I would stay here in lovely Savannakhet province of
Laos P.D.R
Those pages are absolutely without any kind of commercial
interest.!
It only try to serve the many tourist visiting our amazing country
with as many information as possible.
It's not easy to make a website like this, so if you have any idea
of information you would like me to add to this site, please feel
free at all time to contact me by mail: info@savannakhet.info.
I have no goal of being the biggest site of Laos neither of Savannakhet,
however my goal is to provide a site with information for you dear
tourist. And NOT LESS.... UP-TO-DATE information. !!!
On my surf doing the Internet to gather some inspiration to this
site, I did discover that many (hardworking) webmasters have
uploaded a lot of material once, but have "forgot" to
update the information since that....
This I will try at the best effort to avoid, by keeping the site as
UP-TO-DATE as possible.
Let me point out one BIG mistake I've seen MANY places (2 things)
- It's NOT (I repeat NOT!) Possible to take the boat from
neither Vientiane or Pakse to Savannakhet anymore.!
- However IT IS (now a days) possible to take the boat from
Mukdahan (Thailand) to Savannakhet - AND YOU CAN GET A 15 DAYS
VISA ON ARRIVAL.!!!!!!!!
Those two things is written different on MANY pages. I have to
mark out that their might be (MIGHT !!!) a boat sailing from
Vientiane/Pakse to Savannakhet - But in case, this will be
very rare, and most likely not at all. (I have never seen/knowned
about this for the time I've been here.)
Laos' isolation from foreign influence offers travellers an
unparalleled glimpse of traditional southeast Asian life. From the
fertile lowlands of the Mekong River valley to the rugged Annamite
highlands, Laos is the highlight of southeast Asia.
This is the least developed and most enigmatic of the three
former French Indochinese states. A ruinous sequence of colonial
domination, internecine conflict and dogmatic socialism finally
brought the country to its knees in the 1970s, and almost 10% of the
population left the country.
Now, after two decades of isolation from the outside world, this
landlocked, sparsely populated country is enjoying peace,
stabilising its political and economic structures, and admitting
foreign visitors - albeit in limited numbers, owing to a general
lack of infrastructure.
In the end of my words here at the FrontPage, I again urge you
not to hesitate if you have any question or related for/about Savannakhet.
(officially
known as Muang Khanthabuli, but
more commonly called Savan(Means
heaven) or Muang Savan) was
established in 1642 by Lao prince "Thao Keosimphali"
(a second son of King Luang of Phonsim).
He brought many families from Ban Phonsim
(18 kms east of the present Savannakhet's town) to settle
down along the bank of the Mekong river and named his small
town 'Ban Thahae' (Mineral Port Village).
Some crossed the Mekong river to settle down along its bank
and named their town 'Ban HuayMuk' (it's known today as
Mukdahan or Muang Muk).
The original name of the town was "Souvannaphoum".
In 1883, the year of the French colonization, the province's
name was changed by the French to Savannakhet. It's a second
largest city and the most populated province in Laos
It is located just across the Mekong river from Mukdahan,
Thailand. It's 487 kms (247 miles) south of the capital
Vientiane, 884 kms (549 miles) from LuangPrabang and 236 kms
(145 miles) north of Pakse city. Savan has 12
different ethnic groups, the city is mixed of Lao,
Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese communities. Savan is also a
major trading route in the southern part of Laos. Lao, Thai,
Chinese and Vietnamese-made goods pass through this city
daily.
Like many cities in Laos, Savannakhet has a number of French
colonial and Franco-Chinese buildings. Savannakhet is only
place in Laos that the dinosaur remains was first discovered
by the French geologist in 1936 at Ban Namo, Palan district
and Tangvay area.
Interesting places:
Sayaphoum temple is the best
known for its best Pali school in the city. ThatInghang
(Inghang Stupa) is about 15 kms north of the
town. Another sacred religious site is ThatPhon
(Phon Stupa), it is located 65 kms south of the city. The
most typical and beautiful places to see are Ban Kengkok and
HouanHin (the ancient Khmer ruin of a stone house).
Source: http://laos.threeland.com |
THX & Hopefully an informative surf
Yours,
Allan.
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Full country name: Lao People's Democratic
Republic
Area: 236,000 sq km
Population: 4.7 million
People: 50% Lao Loum (lowland Lao), 30% Lao Theung (lower-mountain
dwellers of mostly proto-Malay or Mon-Khmer descent), 10-20% Lao
Sung (Hmong or Mien high-altitude hill tribes) and 10-20% tribal Thais
Language: Lao, (English), French
Religion: 90% Buddhist,
10% animist and spirit cults
Government: communist state
Head of State: President Khamtai Siphandon
Head of Government: Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachith
GDP: US$9.7 billion
GDP per capita: US$1,700
Annual Growth: 4%
Inflation: 7.8%
Major Industries: Rice, tobacco, coffee, tin mining, timber and opium
Major Trading Partners: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan
* info is copied and modified
from: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/south_east_asia/laos/#top
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