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| Home » Laos » Travel Guide » Savannakhet
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| DESTINATION LAOS |
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SAVANNAKHET
GUIDE |
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 ATRACTIONS IN
SAVANNAKHET |
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| HIGHLIGHTS IN
SAVANNAKHET |
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| QUICK GUIDANCE |
| The breathtaking landscapes, beautiful coastlines, cultural delights and historical significance, make Laos an enjoyable stop in Asia travel map. To help you plan a trip in Savannakhet - Laos, we provide the useful guide of hotel options, package tours, transport, attractions, shopping and entertainment. You just click the sections below for helpful information. |
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SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE OVERVIEW |
| Geography |
Demographics |
Telephone |
Capital: Sekong
Region: Southern
Area: 7,665 km2
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Population: 83,000
Density:10.8/ km2
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Calling code |
| Town and Districts |
| Lanarm, Kaleum, Dakcheung and Thateng |
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| General Information
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Xekong (also sometimes Sekong, Lao) is a province of Laos, located in the south-east of the country. Xekong was created in 1984, when it was split off from Salavanh Province. It is bordered by Vietnam to the east, Attapeu Province to the south, Salavanh Province to the north, and Champasak Province to the west. Xekong is the second smallest province in Laos (7,665
km2), it also has the lowest population (about 83,000) and the lowest population density of any province. Xekong is split administratively into four districts: Thateng on the Bolaven Plateau, Lamam in the lowland plain, and Dakchung and Kaleum in the mountainous areas bordering Vietnam.
Xekong is among the most remote areas of Laos; even some of its largest villages are virtually inaccessible by road for at least half of the year. The eastern districts of Dakchung and Kaleum, in particular, are characterized by mostly mountainous terrain which is rugged and difficult to access. This isolation has meant that forest cover, biodiversity, and ethnic traditions have changed less in recent years than in other areas in Laos. However, the province has become much less isolated in recent years, with the upgrading of a major road up from the Mekong valley city of Pakse, plus two major road projects connecting Xekong to Vietnam to the east. Road infrastructure backed by the Vietnamese is part of a regional development strategy spearheaded by Hanoi called the Development Triangle Initiative, aiming to develop links between Vietnam and neighboring underdeveloped provinces in Cambodia and Laos. |
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SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE PEOPLE |
| Xekong is ethnically diverse. Only about 3% of the population is ethnic Lao. The vast majority (97%) come from one of at least 14 distinct ethnic minority groups. The Alak (21% of the provincial population), Katu (20%), Tarieng (19%) and Nge/Krieng (11%) are the main ethnic groups. The Lao government classifies them as “Lao Theung” (mid-slope Lao), but a more accurate categorization, based on ethno-linguistic families, groups them under the Austroasiatic family. Within this broad family, the ethnic groups of Xekong fall into two linguistic branches: the Katuic (including the Katu and the Nge/Krieng) and the Bahnaric (Alak and Tarieng).
These groups have always existed on the margins of society. Lowland groups – be it the Lao-Tai majority in Lao PDR, or the Vietnamese over the border – have traditionally viewed them as uncivilized, for several reasons. First, their agriculture is more focused on swidden cultivation than paddy rice cultivation, a powerful symbol of civilization for lowland societies. Second, since swidden is a form of forest management, and because forest products are so important in their livelihoods, they have always existed in close relation to the forest – a wild and unpredictable place full of spirits (good and bad) in the minds of lowlanders. Third, they do not practice Buddhism, another benchmark of civilization. Rather they practice ‘animism,’ or what can be translated as ‘spiritualism,’ and they are believed to wield powers (ethnic Lao people call it ‘black magic’) used to deal with the dangerous spirits resident in their villages and forests. Furthermore, they have no written language, another sign of civilization. Finally, they do not traditionally recognize political organization outside the village. Thus to lowland Lao these Austroasiatic groups have traditionally represented savagery, godlessness, witchcraft, illiteracy, and anarchy.
These views – and the fear engendered as a result, the fear of peoples who have mastered the wild periphery – has in some ways worked to the advantage of the minorities. They have enjoyed relative autonomy over the centuries, as the power of great kingdoms of the lowlands (Cham, Khmer, Vietnamese, Lao) changed hands, and ebbed and flowed. Historically, their lands have been an important buffer zone between powerful and often warring lowland groups – alternatively a staging point or hideout for rebellions or retreats, with minorities acting as essential guides through the forests and mountains. Therefore, these groups have been a part of many of the great battles of mainland Southeast Asian history; but not until the French colonial takeover in the 1890s were their lands ever totally claimed by an outside power.
This is when the first substantial organizational push beyond the village level – including collaboration with lowland groups - occurred. Many rebellions against the French were organized from the time of French conquest in Laos. Ultimately, a great number of minorities joined the Pathet Lao communist movement during the resistance war against the French, and then later the American-backed Royal Lao Government forces. Though they were fighting for “independence,” in a very real way this was the beginning of the end of autonomy for Xekong’s ethnic groups. Many moved as a result of the heavy bombing in Xekong (the Ho Chi Minh trail runs through the province), and many remain today in the settlements made then.
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GETTING IN - OUT
SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE |
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GETTING AROUND
SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE |
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SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE RESOURCES |
Ecotourism
The province of Savannakhet offers some very interesting remote trekking opportunities near the Vietnam border. The Don Pu Vieng National Protected Area trek gives some occasions to encounter the endangered Eld’s deer, silver languars and horn bills, all of which are typically difficult to see in Laos. 4-day treks into the Phu Xang Hae National Protected area take you through rocky mountain ranges, and highlight local Puthai culture and bush survival skills. Shorter 1 and 2-day walks to Dong Natad take you to a towering ancient forest, a sacred lake and That Ing Hang stupa. Preparation of villagers for tourism activities in Savannakhet has been a top priority of the Savannakhet Ecotourism Project. |
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TRAVEL TIPS |
Communication
There is no publicly-available internet anywhere in Sekong at present. There is, however, a tourist information office. But it is, we discovered when we visited, an office dedicated to collecting information about tourism in Sekong Province, and isn't actually involved in dispensing information to tourists themselves.
Trip Ideas
The only treks and activities they had information on where thinks available in other parts of Laos. We did learn, however, that 7,111 tourists had visited Sekong province in 2006 - sounds inflated to us.
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SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE ECONOMY |
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| Northern Laos |
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Vientiane - Vang Vieng, Bokeo - Houeixai Town, Houaphan, Luang Namtha- Muang Sing, Luang Prabang - Muong Ngoi, Oudomxay, Phong Saly,
Xaignabouli, Xieng Khouang |
| Central Laos |
| Bolikhamxay, Khammouane - Khonglor Cave - Thakhaek Town, Savannakhet |
| Southern Laos |
| Attapeu, Champasak - Khong Island - Pakse Town, Salavan - Tadlo Waterfall, Sekong |
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