Roadside guesthouse - Savannakhet – 45km
I wasn't full of energy when I left my roadside accommodation, but
luckily the road conditions improved. They weren't perfect, but they
were better than the previous day.
I arrived in Savannakhet early, which gave me enough time to look
for a few items I might need further south. There seemed to be few
shopping facilities in the 460 kilometres between Savannakhet and
Stung Treng in Cambodia, so it was best to stock up.
There's not much to do in Savannakhet, but I quite liked its collection
of decaying French colonial buildings. However, at sunset, the town
came alive with food stalls along the riverfront, and it was hard to
believe it was the same place. I considered staying another day as I
never got a chance to clean my muddy cycling gear or bicycle, and
with a 30-day visa, there was no need to rush anywhere.
Between 1964 and 1973, the USA conducted one of the largest
sustained aerial bombardments in history, flying 580,344 missions
over Laos and dropping two million tonnes of bombs, costing US$2.2
million a day. Around 30% of the bombs dropped on Laos failed to
detonate, leaving the country littered with unexploded ordnance
(UXO). For people all over eastern Laos (the most contaminated
provinces being Xieng Khuang, Salavan, and Savannakhet), living
with this appalling legacy has become an intrinsic part of daily life.
Hence, I stayed on the well-trodden path. I know it didn’t look like it,
but at least I was on a road of sorts. I downloaded the book "The
Ravens: The True Story Of A Secret War In Laos" and I guessed it
was going to be a late night for me. I decided to do my laundry the
next day. LOL.