Savannakhet

Ever been to a place which smelled somehow like "outpost", "frontier"? Savannakhet is one of these towns... it's only lacking the tough-looking men in heavy boots, who you know from the movies, but otherwise you definitely don't feel like being in Laos' second largest city.
Savannakhet has a long history, it was an important trading town during the french colonial period, but that was long ago. There are still plenty of old buildings in the colonial style, but many of them decayed, fallen down, with an almost ghostly atmosphere hovering around them. Many streets are not paved, dust is blown through the air, trees and bushes are abundant, during the monsoon season the lush green must be ressembling a jungle in the city.
The mainstreet has a lively traffic, is full of stores with the newest mobile phones, there are food kitchens and small restaurants everywhere. Off the two or three larger streets it's like being in the countryside, at the "frontier"...
Along the Mekong also plenty of food stalls, it's a great place to sit in the afternoon and watch the sunset. I found a terrific guesthouse, spacey, very relaxing atmosphere, where you meet people and exchange the latest news about the places others have been to.

I'm not even two weeks on the road, but already think of skipping some towns and regions in Vietnam and Cambodia, to spend another two weeks in Laos before I have to fly back. This country is too unique, too singular... there's maybe not that much to "see" and to "do" what most people expect when they are travelling, but this is exactly what makes Laos different from the rest of Indochina... don't do things, just be here and "feel" the country...
It's hard to describe... you should give it a try yourselves...