Savannakhet

In many ways Southern Laos remains the most traditionally 'Lao' region of the country. The Mekong River Valley is mostly inhabited by lowland Lao, while the central highlands are populated by a mixture of Phu Thai, Saek and Lao peoples. Savannakhet and Champasak are the most travelled areas of Southern Laos.

Savannakhet is the country's most populous province and is a very active trade junction between Thailand and Vietman.
Officially known as Muang Khanthabuli, the provincial capital is a busy district of 124,000 inhabitants just across the Mekong River from Mukdahan, Thailand. Savannakhet has a number of French colonial and Franco-Chinese buildings; most are in the small central business district. A local Vietnamese school, Mahayana Buddhist temple and a Catholic church testify to a continued Vietnamese influence.

The annual monsoon cycle gives Laos two distinct seasons: May to October is wet and November to April is dry.Southern Laos gets the most rain overall; the peaks of the Annamite Chain receive the heaviest rainfall, over 3000mmi annually.The provinces of Luang Prabang, Sainyabuli and Xieng Khuang usually receive only 1000 to 1500mm a year. Vientiane and Savannalchet get about 1500 to 2000mm, as do Phongsali, Luang Nam Tha and Bokeo.In the Mekong River valley (from Bokeo Province to Champasak Province) the highest temperatures (up to 38ºC) occur March/April and the lowest are in December/ January (as low as 15ºC).

In the mountains of Xieng Khuang December/January nights can easily fall to OºC. In mountainous provinces of lesser elevation, temperatures may be a few degrees higher. During most of the rainy season, daytime averages are about 29ºC in the lowlands and around 25ºC in mountain valleys.