There is the only lively crossroads in Xepon Town, the one by the only town market. This is where I sometimes go in the late afternoon to hang out for a while with a photo camera.
The recently paved street crosses the highway, that's where the town's heart. The market is on the left
Every vendor and shop assistant knows me there because it looks like I am the first farang who has stayed in Xepon for so long, almost a month.
Standing at this crossroads, I feel watched although I am sure nobody thinks truly bad things about me (why?).
I would prefer being less conspicuous but the town has the only street photography spot where I also buy fruits and buns, so they see me a couple of times daily not counting late-afternoon photography sessions.
Fruit vendors are below the awnings. The yellow shop sign is a bakery that I visit every morning
Why don't I leave? I feel comfortable here. No awful Vietnamese traffic here. The hotel staff didn't bother me, nobody shows an interest in how long I am in the room and how often I go out, what my plans are, why I am in Xepon for so long.
Night section of the market with a tiny bus station behind
I eat well, sleep well, everything is well.
Stir-fried pork with holy basil, 1.4$
I needed this month of peace and Lao-Thai food. On September 10 or so, I will return to Vietnam, and more adventures will follow.
So let me share shots of life at the crossroads and adjacent market quarter.
Girls are selling lottery tickets to those who want to try their luck to become a billionaire. One billion Laotian kips are about 45.000 US dollars, not bad at all.
Asian street lottery sellers have always been a mystery to me. In Thailand, it's like a tiny official business for those who have not enough money to start anything else; in Vietnam, it seems to be a decent way to beg passersby for money... Why do these Laotian girls from not the poorest families do this? Maybe this is a way for young people to earn pocket money when there are no other jobs? I don't know. I doubt they sell more than one ticket per evening.
You can see in these eyes how cool I am 😄 What do I mean? I am a classical farang. 😄 I have a prominent nose, my face is thickly covered with stubble, and my skin looks like someone dumped a bag of flour on me. 😀 Thus, I resemble Harry Potter, David Beckham, George Washington, Albert Einstein, and all the other funny farangs from TV and Youtube. 😁
Yes, the locals are not spoiled by the attention of foreigners yet; you are a star here just because you are from a faraway country.
(And sometimes you pay more just because you are from a faraway country 😁).
These girls were passing by me, and I noticed a sparkle of curiosity in their eyes... Someone could say it's easier to photograph with consent but that's not quite correct: they start posing in a random way while you have only several seconds to shoot the first fleeting excitement and embarrassment.
Passing trucks are a significant part of the crossroads' life:
They are the main reason for numerous restaurants and a dozen guesthouses in the town.
As well as the only reason for careful driving a motorbike in Xepon Town.
Besides men, women, and all sorts of kids, there is another type of townsfolk:
A certain number of freely walking dogs at the main crossroads. Good dogs, they behave not differently from people.
Whether this is a delivery dog 😀 or just a happy four-legged mom who has found a plastic bag with meal leftovers, I don't know.
Less-lucky fellows. I found this cage at the crossroads by a repair shop. I guess that was a meeting point for someone who was going to take these dogs away. It's either a stray-animal-control guy or a person working for a Vietnamese restaurant...
At last, the main crossroads is a striking spot for sunset photography:
The highway in Xepon stretches right from east to west, what a photo opportunity!
More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out my previous posts on my personal Travelfeed or Worldmappin map.
I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm (the afternoon shots) / Nikkor 70-300mm (the sunset) on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on August 28 (sunset) and September 4-5, 2024, in Xepon, Laos.