Eco-tourism in Savannakhet Province

In an effort to attract foreign visitors to Savannakhet Province, tourism officials in the area are focusing on a project that would offer visitors challenging adventures and relaxing tours in a forest setting. The project, which began in November 2001 and is expected to be completed in early 2004, will take visitors on designated trips to nearby conservation and protected areas to teach them more about the plants and animals of the forest. Tourists will also be able to visit with locals and learn more about their culture and lifestyle.

Lao hotel news

Angsana Resorts and Spa has just acquired the Maison Souvannaphouma and will begin refurbishing the resort’s 25 rooms to better reflect Lao culture and heritage. The new resort, expected to be completed at the end of 2004, will be rebranded as a Colours of Angsana Hotel.

With the high season upon us, the yearly scramble for rooms has started. Next to the usual well-known hotels, there are two recently refurbished smaller properties ideal for FITs. The newly decorated Interhotel in Vientiane, right on the Mekong near Wat Chan, offers 12 nice and bright rooms in a central location. Deluxe One rooms are a bit smaller and do not have windows to the front. Deluxe Two rooms have an unobstructed view of the Mekong and are larger.

In Luang Prabang, the Sala Prabang, built in 1891 and tastefully renovated in 2002, offers simple, rustic rooms with clean bathrooms. The riverfront location is an added plus and the two frontage rooms have views of the Mekong. Sala Prabang currently has 18 rooms.

The future 5-star hotel in Vientiane will be called the Sun Park Hotel & Tourist Complex and will feature 246 rooms on 14 floors, with 2 floors reserved for conferences, meetings and seminars. The 3rd floor will offer a swimming pool and views of the Mekong River.

The Sala Vat Phou in Champassak, in its current state, cannot be recommended anymore. The management contract is expiring in February 2004 and it seems the staff is not very motivated to keep things going. At the moment there is no adequate alternative in town and we recommend heading back to Pakse (40 minutes) for the night or continuing south to Khong or Khone Island (1hour 15 minutes-1hour 30 minutes). For more information please contact george@exotissimo.com.

The Grand Luang Prabang Hotel in Luang Prabang started offering a boat service to transport guests between the hotel and town on 1st November. Every two hours (from 9:00 to 16:00) or by request from a group, a boat picks up clients at a pier near the hotel and drops them close to Vat Xieng Thong in the heart of Luang Prabang.

New bridge and land routes

Eleven years after Laos and Thailand proposed a plan to build a 3.3 kilometre bridge over the Hueng River that would link the Lao district of Chaiyaburi and the Loei Province in Thailand, its construction has been approved. The new bridge, which will be completed in one year, will cost 1.7 million USD and is expected to boost trade and tourism and facilitate travel between the two countries. Construction has been completed on a 360-kilometre road that connects the Dak Trung District of the Sekong Province in Laos with Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province. It is expected that the new route will boost local economies of surrounding provinces. Officials are looking into building another route that runs from the Kalum District of Sekong to the Thua Thien and Hue Provinces. In the Lao province of Attopeu, a 37-kilometre road is being constructed that would connect the province with Vietnam’s Kon Tum Province. The first phase of the project was completed in early December, with the whole road expected to be finished in 2005.