The city where time stops 🇱🇦

Welcome to the city where time stops. We are at the Laos Thailand border, in a small town called Savannakhet that most tourists avoid and where lots of foreigners, especially French people, stopped to enjoy their retirement. I will show you the rural area from the Laos side and downtown Savannakhet!

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Somebody hi still trying to oh oh oh Jesus Christ this entire city is about chilling chilling is the rule welcome to the LA Thailand border and by border I do mean the meong river not so long ago you had to take these tiny feries to cross the river and you would have met

An immigration office on the other side and an office demigration on this side I said it with the French pronunciation because Lao has so much connection with the country of France in Europe they were kind of a colony but not really a colony they were let’s say protected by

The French and there is so much French influence in this country but anyway nowadays this building is abandoned because they did build a bridge not so far from here and if they catch you Crossing from one country to the other via boat they will shoot you first and

Then they will ask you what the hell are you doing because the only people that cross illegally especially at night via boat are drug dealers anyway the LA people are some of the nicest and kindest people I met in sou sta they also seem some of the most honest people

I met and they do love this Sport and let’s go did it get it closer oh my gosh only 10 cm apart today I decided to rent a motorcycle we’re going to explore the rer area of La of this small town called Savanah cat and after exploring this rural area we’re going to

Investigate this bordered City because bordered cities they have always crazy histories and uh there are so many trucks like I never been to a country that has so many pickup trucks as LA and this is a country where the average monthly salary is less than $200 a month

And everybody has a pickup Tru and there is a reason for that but let’s go first into the nature and then we’ll come back to the city and let’s hope I’m going to be able to drive a motorcycle that has the manual shift not really sure about

The wording in English but I usually Drive automatic so let’s cross fingers if you’re from La you don’t need a helmet but if you’re a foreigner the police will stop you and ask you for 100k 100K is about $5 the fine might be good if you have five

Extra dollars every five minutes but in my case let’s put on the helmet let’s go change and change again manual driving oh oh I have no clue how fast I’m driving because this thing doesn’t work also the petrol doesn’t work so probably we should go to a gas station

But for real guys look how many pickup trucks Toyota Nissan Toyota Ford I’ve seen many many other brands and from what I heard is that if you are part of the Communist Party in a meaning if you work for the government you’re going to get a free pickup truck now by free I’m

Not sure if they mean like um a huge massive discount but it must be almost for free because from $200 a month how can you actually afford a pickup truck I have no clue anyway let’s keep going I found a temple and all these temples they do remind me of Thailand a

Lot and I just remember that I did a video on the thail Lao border from the Thai point of view so today we are doing the same video but from the LA point of view probably you guys cannot see it but I’m trying to see on Google Maps where I need to

Head on the left side we do have a market and it is open in the early morning I made a live stream over there you can check it out but in the meantime we need to go to the rural area and yeah nothing works but it still moves and

That it is what matters so we made it to the gas station but the guy left me like this 38 okay thank give 2K tip bye-bye thank you thank you you’re welcome one of the weirdest things in La an airplane of the K line from 2022 is just laying there next to the

Stadium I have no clue why but it is pretty fascinating look in this random about there are some dinosaurs because dinosaurs were found in this area and there is a museum but it is always Clos I was trying to approach this Museum multiple days but I never find it open

So I don’t know if it’s going to be possible to visit it local food STS oh oh after all we are trying to enter rural um laow and what a better way to do it than from a side road and I guess this is where the road ends

Uhoh where do we need to go Trel straight oh no this gu is making so much dust I’m not 100% sure of where we are but we keep going somebody the guy was scared of the cameraman never be scared of the camera he’s always going to be alive at the end

Of the movies anyway I should probably put my camera somewhere there are a few holes and many interesting houses this is somebody you see everyone that has the possibility is going to build his house on a second level I guess it is to avoid the snakes and other animals but oh

There is a temple and there is also a barber shop where is the barber shop I don’t know but you see also these guys they sleep above the ground level somebody and here is the temple and I guess I need to check the map and understand where I need to go and the

Temple is under construction so the map is suggesting me to turn right but after some point there will be no roads somebody I know that the road continues even if there is no Road on such Maps because I’ve been exploring this area in the past day and I no this it happens

Very very often so I just want to reach a lake how we reach it I don’t know oh my think can needed another type of motorcycle holds everywhere at least we are going to have some internet in the village who knows there is a cow close in the road there are two

Cows uhoh we cannot fight four three four cows don’t kick me please I’m leaving I’m leaving okay thank you for letting me pass cows this cow everywhere oh no I think we did touch it with the wheel where are we oh thank God I didn’t

Fall I guess it’s better if I check the map again life is pretty strange at least it’s getting exciting okay now the map is not complaining uh in the meaning I’m going the direction of the lake not sure if you’re going to reach it though

But yeah at some point we need to turn left at this speed we’ll never reach the lake but that’s okay we need to get there alive I think all these places they do turn into a rice field when is the right season how do people live here I’m not

Sure you need to pick up car for 100% you need a pickup car or a Jeep Mama M I guess this one in front of house is the house chicken and I mean there are chickens under it and this is the kitchen I need to check this pop are we

Heading closer to the lake what are we doing with our lives and this camera is getting hotter and hotter I guess I need to shut it down for a second comfortable driving it is a look s now day but it is much appreciated maybe we can get some beef

For lunch my stomach is opening just by watching the cows I love eting what can I do I love it La flag and communist flag and apparently they are the requirements to get the pickup truck but I might be completely wrong and yes this road smells 100% new and I guess it ends

Over there so there are some tiny houses over here I like this Gates and I start seeing the lake in front of us oh yes it is here on the left side oh I’m so happy this massive I don’t know how you guys hear my voice through the helmet but what can

I tell you I’m super happy I’m super super happy we reach the lake wow maybe somebody was living in here I don’t know or maybe a fisherman and here there is an abandoned boat I wish I could jump over there but it’s a bit far and they told me that there are

Buffal hanging out in this area but they also told me that this is the wrong season so practically when is the WR season the water gets too high maybe like 1 m 2 m I don’t know and the buffal will not be on this side of this massive

Beautiful Lake on the other side that’s probably where the they do the rice fields because that’s how it looks when you see these tiny squares and over there there are some cows think about all these rice fields it just came to mind did you know that low people they

Eat more than 100 kg per year of sticky rice sticky rice is the major product and sticky rice is what keeps this country alive and it’s pretty delicious you don’t need a fork or anything to eat it you can just grab it with your own ends and uh because it’s sticky it will

Stay together like a bowl and I shouldn’t be driving with one hand because um the roads is not the best but there are some strange situations on the left it looks like a restaurant there are some chairs that’s probably where people come to chill and yeah beer La that’s probably an abandon

Of the restaurant maybe we can go explore it for a second motorcycle parked I guess somebody had a business idea over here somebody and uh I guess he completely failed I want to explore one of these little Hots by the way did you know that bamboo is actually grass it’s

Not a tree and by being grass you can make chopsticks and many other somebody let’s see if there is a where we can enter that one is abandoned this one too maybe that’s the only one we can enter oh no they put some sticks I guess for safeness

Oh oh oh yeah it’s going to break 100% I don’t fear falling into the water I fear the little nles I cannot recall the word in English for Kyo that they might give me some diseases but yeah pretty cool place unfortunately I guess it failed and uh I think it was a great

Business idea oh that one is breaking completely I think it’s better if I get out but yeah unfortunately I failed business idea I wish it was still working super chill place for a beer while driving mom stop watching and yes on this side there are some abandoned fridges oh I hit my head

It looks like an abandoned house I’m not 100% sure maybe there is somebody living in here on the other one because on the other one there is a motorcycle on this one it looks like pure desert there are some kids coming they probably kept school and they are rushing through

Some yeah they do have the school uniform and they are running like crazy still trying to make it t thil somebody there was a 10-year-old driving she could have been eight and the passengers they were like six and four I got hit by the massive insect somebody must be living in here looks

Like there are lots of motorcycles and on this side somebody made the a modern house but this one looks empty and gated who knows who knows so many Lotus very nice very very nice absolutely I’m not sure maybe there were many fishermen or maybe people were

Living on the lake before because I see all the sticks coming out from the water I don’t know and then there is more kind of modern houses on this side oh I see a family okay finally I see somebody actually living in this place and that’s

The nice house very very cool I’m happy they are living in such a nice place and here again all these houses on the water completely destroyed this tree reminds me so much of Africa it spreads his arms to catch as much sun as possible check this out yeah they look 100% like African

Trees that’s so beautiful actually this land too being so Brown makes me think of central Kenya or nearby the coast where it’s very very hot because if you go far from the coast in Kenya it’s actually cold people don’t think that about Africa but it is cold over there and here

Plantations makes me think about my house in Italy so much my grandfather always planting me sometimes helping me out and being paid like € per hour which is like $110 per hour something like this tough life but I was making some money so I could go out with my other kidss friends and

All the kids hanging out together and buying ice cream something like that so bu well it seems like the road is about to get worse I guess in the center they go cars and on the side they go motorcycles but the side looks pretty

Scary to be honest oh I wish I went to the center I don’t care about cars I want to arrive they alive oh Jesus Christ oh no no no why why did I go on the side oh yeah this gu is going in the center somebody somebody is hello thinking how

This guy is so dumb why did they think Road for motorcycle 10 hours later Road for motorcycles what a stupid fot I got to used to Vietnam where there is always a road for motorcycles and a road for cars I’m sure there is another road to reach this place properly oh colorful

Fences so Google says that in 6 minutes more or less in that direction there is an important important Temple which is some of the remains of Buddha very nice Road look the entire family on a motorcycle so you see guys just before lunchtime when you head north in La it

Means that the sun is hitting you on the back and that’s why you see the shadow in front of us good learning experience now I should stop driving with one hand I see all these tall houses on the second floor and I do imagine a slide to

Get out of my room that will be ideal no stairs only slide in front of us there is the temple that we needed to reach let’s see what is left of Buddha here oh W that’s a majestic thing in the center super super nice and ancient sculpture let’s get inside this place

Let me show you a few things over here is written USA USA again I have no idea and they are the only three letters that I’m able to read in this language I feel a bit Dusty and that I need the 300 showers but we’ll keep

Going so on this side seems like they sell some water and a few other things maybe flowers for donations they are taking the umbrellas out oh no they are fixing it because of the sun I heard that that one is new and they are still

Building it but the one I want to see it’s just in front of us so ready check this out let’s go oh my this thing we’re about to witness might be 3,000 years old I feel so dusty apparently there is a main road for the tourist so they can reach this

Temple much easier but the problem is that it is still so isolated from the rest of Lao and it is the most ancient and most one of the most important places in LA to be honest I read a lot about it just so unreachable so it was built around the 400 be and

The 400 be is not before Christ it is about you know the Ty people they have a different calendar it’s like 2,500 or maybe they are in the year 2600 right now so if we do 2,600 and then we add 400 probably this place was built

3,000 years ago it was built as a c stupa and then the Buddha relics there is part of the vertebral column and skeleton of Buddha so yeah so I guess there is somewhere inside the vertebral column of the Buddha and that’s why this place is so crazy

Important by the way the LA people originally they were not Buddhists Buddhism came here through India and uh in India nowadays they are mostly Hindu and Muslim there are like 200 million Muslim and 1 billion Hindu I guess religion shifts worldwide for example Egypt in the past it was Catholic or

Christian and now days is fully Muslim and Europe is kind of having a Muslim colonization so and the Muslims are the only people making kids so kind of Europe is becoming Muslim too very nice place I want wonder if I can get closer and not being part of the religion

Probably I’m not allowed oh so check this out Gentlemen please take off hat and shoes before entering ladies are not permitted to pass women not entrance get closer to the door I’m sorry women you get this male privilege by watching my video so there are some kind of

Coins and there are donations over here star looks beautiful it is Chained I guess nobody can touch the relics of the Buddha and all this gold over here is super nice it is fading a bit so but yeah very interesting place for once I’m always happy to be a

Man to be honest but I’m even happier to be a man I’m sorry ladies I know it’s crazy but what can we do you can experience it visually through my video I didn’t know that Buddhism has such divisions men and women there is a St informing us about something I hope I

Didn’t commit any crime by answering hello how are youour nice to meet you same yeah very nice like it totally unexpected Ed yeah yeah yeah I agree I agree there are some monks over here guys I don’t want to be offensive in any possible way but both monks I think they

Were playing video games on the telephone which is cool like what do you do there are no tourists here you canot just sit on the floor the entire day doing nothing let’s go get some food after Crossing all this area we deserve some lunch I think that’s what matters

In life being full and being happy nothing else here they’re cooking too I need to thank my favorite Frenchman in town for suggesting me the noodle pleas now I need to find a way to do this with one hand I was able to put the camera inside

My sh shirt let’s see if we can get food again and again and again in life every day how was the camera angle from under my shirt not 100% sure but here we go okay somebody Hello thank you oh that’s where she throw them oh okay okay okay okay okay thank

You okay okay okay here are all the ingredients in this kind ofid and yeah my meat everything okay hi I came here with the French guy Vince I’m so grateful I was also able to run the motorcycle thanks to him he has all the connections in town

That’s so cool so we got our noodles over here here we got some veggies and we got some water unfortunately there is copyrighted music but I’m not going to ask them to turn it off also I do not know how to speak to them I had lots of training in China

Check this out oh I was able to grab it mix all of that oh look at the meat nice nice nice and we add some Salad I should probably break the salad before putting it inside the but my hands are way too dirty very nice a bit farther from the temple but super worth it like do not eat in front of the temple come here support this family forgot something crazy spicy you use the big

Spoon grab a bit drop it make the plate super bloody and then you keep the spoon to mix it all that’s it the spicy Bowl strong also we’re going to add some lime okay usually when I am in such places I do use the lime also to clean my Hands byebye yes you too you want to okay oh thank you thank you bye-bye byebye see you nice1 lunch $1 lunch and it was 25 cents for the bottle of water I gave them $2 in total because I really really like them and uh you know this family cannot afford to bring the

Daughter to school the the daughter unfortunately she has some problems and there are no special sorts in this area with the uh BL the only school for special kids I don’t remember the terminology in English I don’t want to offend anyone is inen which is the capital which is very far from here

Unfortunately this kid is stuck inside this place so got to support the family oh okay let me grab the bag okay okay let me see what he wants to show me let’s go maybe he wants to show me where they live and everything the business

You do oh they have a mini Buddha inside this Garden wow thank you it’s a big pig over there there is a Buddha there another big pig with massive balls and there is a water if my camera Felts over there we are done thank you than oh this big as Massy

Boats and it’s carrying something I guess for the water and the Buddha so they kind of have a private Garden just behind their house thank you meti myty is your name me oh myty nice to meet you myty yeah nice to nice to meet you do you speak other words in

English ni a little bit just a little bit is this your father uh is it your father no he’s making a basket Kai s Kai chicken chicken yeah yeah oh he’s preparing the food and then you cook it by your mom I guess is this your family

Uh mom sister mama mama oh okay okay okay than thank you nice to meet you nice to meet you too byebye guys I will let the camera rest a bit and I will take the better Road it’s going to be a bit fter we reach the town and we continue this

Vlog okay we made it back in town I just parked my motor cycle I’m going to let it rest for a few minutes before using it again and in the meantime I want to show you this area of savan cat the second largest city here in LA

But it has only a little bit more than 100,000 people so it is pretty small compared to the rest of the planet the population in this area is very very far from being rich there is only one major mall and it’s not really used people just go

There to play bowling in this country they really do love to play with balls so like this is a pretty nice house but the kitchen is outside here that’s where they dry the clothes everyone is going to try to save as much money as possible

When you get less than $200 a month it’s very hard to upgrade your standard of living and this is so common you live on the top and all the rest goes down you can put your motorcycle your instruments anything you need life goes on the

Bottom of the house and you live on top my guess as I might have mentioned before is because of animals insects anything that could come up from the ground is now kept away the majority of the places where to e tiny food stores also also the supermarkets they are

Always always Tiny Places it’s very hard to find something massive the only massive thing is this pickup trucks which they are everywhere so practically it seems that if you keep the com communist flag and the laow flag and you work for the government you’re going to

Get a pickup truck I don’t know I know it’s the second time I’m mentioning it but please can somebody confirm it in the comments is it really like that and all this vegetation is super super useful they use these leaves to keep the r inside or any other products that they

Might cook so la to me it’s one of the most similar countries ever to Kenya Uganda all these countries in East Africa not been in the west not yet but they remind me so much of these places the only difference is that in Kenya it is impossible to afford such carts and

They also told me that there are people who buy these cards and they cannot afford it but they simply pay for it their entire life so it is just a competition to stand out from the crowd and here you can see bananas growing randomly on the streets in this house

That might look abandon but inside I’m sure someone lives here hello somebody what the place very very interesting if you need anything there are tiny supermarkets every 300 500 M no big malls no big supermarkets but that’s okay you develop a relationship with the cashier with the people working there

And it’s so nice I would say that this city is perfect for people that want to retire here I think it is the most chilled City on the planet I’ve never seen a fight I never seen an argument I never seen anything that is dangerous apart the driving on this roads full of

Holes but in general it might be one of the safest places on the planet and it might be one of the chillest places on the planet so let me grab the motorcycle again and let me show you a few spots and this is so cool on the way to home

And abandon the car I always see kids playing when there is no school right here wow very very colorful and there is also an abandoned scooter Water Scooter and this is one of the main way of transporting I was folling in a hole people and by the way there is lots of

Friendship here between L people Filipinos I don’t know why but it’s so common I even met the Filipino family living here in La it’s beautiful apart from sticky rice all the LA people they do love to eat barbecue fortunately at least for foreigners it is pretty affordable but still remember

These people make about $200 a month so life must not be easy I’m now driving back the motorcycle near the area where we started this video because that area in the past was the French District where you can see kind of of French houses still there because that part of

The city in the past it was the main business area of the city now you have to imagine all the people coming from Thailand they had to pass by the French District because the French District was just next to the water border so you took the ferry cross into LA and you are

Like oh I need to eat where do you eat you eat in a French district oh I need to sleep where do you sleep I sleep in the French district and nowadays the main business area and the Center focus of this small town called savan is kind of Disappearing because of the bridge

All the businesses are getting less and less customers and uh nowadays in the French district there are two main places where to eat there are a few actually but let’s say if you’re a foreigner and if you’re coming to this part of Lao which is the second

Biggest city La over 100,000 people and imagine the second biggest city I would suggest you as a foreigner TW it at Lin cafe or to have a pizza at long Pizza Long Pizza is very high prices compared to La the pizza is about 6 78 or even

$9 but uh Lin Cafe is very very affordable FL it has prices that all the well of loan uh can afford to eat and uh it has lots of foreign food there lots of foreign speci and this guy looks like a foreigner is he a fore or is he L I

Don’t know is a looking like a foreigner but who knows the only foreign people I met here are mostly r or some French people that are like I’m going to work remotely I’m going to save some money I’m going to stay in a cheap place and

This is really truly one of the cheapest places on the planet now I need to find a church because of course the French district is next to a church by the way apart from Buddhism there is a religion that was here present in La before Buddhism came and uh I’m not sure what

They really vate but yeah they have their own religion it kind of disappeared is not really trusted by many but I heard that half of the population still believes in it where is this French dist where are you where are you I cannot find you I think it’s clear

On the right there is a sign that’s saying tourist information center but the tourism information center doesn’t exist anymore and this one on the left are the walls of the church and here that’s where originally there was a night market being in the center of the French District it’s abandoned this one this

One on the right is the most popular Cafe for foreigners they do serve some International Food and here are the leftovers of the French district there is a place that sells wine and uh not much else left I do assure you from what they told me the locals and even the foreigners this

Place was crazy crazy busy but since they buil the bridge it became empty many of these businesses they have shut down look this place is probably for rent or for sale and there is the Italian Pizzeria over there long pizza and nothing much is left these are all

French buildings so the few businesses that they were smart they tried to find the solution they tried to move W from here and they kind of moved on the river if I understood it well imagine I’m just arrived I don’t know much about the city

I just spoke with a few locals and right now we are heading to the river very very close to where it was the Border checkpoint and there is a place where people go chill yeah guys if you did notice this entire city is about chilling not much else chilling is the

Rule you come here you relax no travel no worries you watch the abandoned French District in front of you you’re like oh it’s close close close like oh don’t hit the car close again so here we are where the video started exactly here now this is not a romantic

Movie we are not going to end the video where it started this is a failed business the office the immigration and like many others fail businesses it has a lasting extending building being kept abandoned we are going where the new people are going by the way 70% of the population all now is

Young and much younger than any other countries in the world I think it’s under 30 70% of the population so where are all these youngsters to go let me show it to you and then we close the video over there while I see p coffee I absolutely need a coffee after lunch

Even if it’s already almost sunset by the way Sunset is very early in this city like 6:00 p.m. and here there is a dragon facing Thailand and on the other side the Thailand has a dragon too ah we are arrived a few M from the French district there is a square there are

Toys for kids that they get open properly at night there are people chilling there are people taking care of the place and there are many motorcycles spoted over here you know how it is guys life is a cycle when all businesses die new opportunities are created and uh well

This is the product of new people starting fresh starting from scratch a little bar over here it has thousands of tables and there is this thing blocking the access for the motorcycle so people can chill relax enjoy life directly here on the meong river let’s see who is here hello that’s

Incredible oh all the tips for this video came from this man I I didn’t know you were here I had no clue me too yeah I didn’t know I was here so guys I we land the video over here check out this view Thailand we are on the meon river I

Guess I’m going to take a drink too wow that was totally unexpected thank you so much for watching please subscribe if you’re new here CH and support the channel everything is the link in description bye gotten some coffee and when the Sun goes down that’s the

Perfect spot where to sit just in front of Thailand