Savannakhet Province
Savannakhet Province
Savannakhet Province is situated in central Laos. It’s the largest province and has borders with Khammouan Province, Salavan Province, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the east and the Kingdom of Thailand to the west. Most of the province is covered in forests.
Savannakhet city (officially renamed Kaysone Phomvihane in 2005) recently had some renovations and some of its old grandeur is brought back by this. The old Roman Catholic church in the centre (built in the 1920s), old French colonial buildings and several temples can be found in the city. The first Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (and later president) Kaysone Phovihane was born in Savannakhet and a museum about his life is located in the city. The small but interesting Savannnakhet Dinosaur Museum gives you some insight in a time long before humans populated the world and some dinosaur bones found in the province are displayed for the public. That Ing Hang is a stupa situated about 40 kilometers south of Savannakhet city and is one of the important Buddhist places in Laos.
The one thousand years old ancient Khmer Empire ruins of named Heuan Hin (‘heuan hin’ means ‘house of stones’) are located about 65 km south of the city in Ban Dong. The area is situated in Ban Dong, Dokmay Songkhone about 65 km south of Savannakhet city.
Savannakhet province was bombed down extensively by American bombardments during the American War and the Ho Chi Minh Trail passes through the province.
Animals in Savannakhet include monkeys (there is a ‘Monkey Forest’ in the province), crocodiles, snakes, and the Giant Asian soft shelled turtle.