Life in Laotian Small Town 🇱🇦 Photographing Xepon for History

Changes might come to Xepon Town. A year ago, the place had no paved streets except the highway from Vietnam to plain Laos and Thailand. Nowadays, they are constructing three paved streets, repairing one sidewalk, and filling two major roadside puddles with earth. That is a lot since the town has a tiny population, like, several thousand people... Maybe some event is coming or a visit of a major political leader?..

It could be because they are trying to attract more investments or maybe big companies located in the Xepon district (SunPaper Laos and LXML Copper and Gold Mining) decided to help the town. I have no idea. But I feel changes are coming to Xepon. Even no business intention behind these improvements, the town has a noticeable potential: it is the best point to stop on the long route between the plains of Vietnam and Laos, and that gives a chance for economical growth.

So, I got inspired by the idea that I should document the town through photography before Xepon becomes different, more modern.

Let me share bits of my pleasant work, fragments of the mosaic that I have collected.

Xepon is a small town but it is also the administrative center of the district. Thus, people come to Xepon to buy special goods. For example, there is a specialized shop selling light equipment here. And there is a shop that sells spirit houses (in the image above). These small shrines are erected by a house or a business venue to provide shelter for spirits and, thus, appease them. Same-same as in Thailand. This doesn't sound very Buddhist but rather animistic. In the same way, paganism lives in the traditions of many Christian nations.

That's a very central place, a backstreet where the main entrance of Xepon market is located. Once, it might become a modern street with 3- or even 4-floor buildings on it. But nowadays, it hosts 1-storey huts selling brooms, wicker baskets, plastic products, etc. I even saw 2 types of fossils there and a large rock-crystal. In 2023, I found an unusual species there called Ratufa bicolor; they were selling a corpse of the adult animal with its five dead babies, all covered with flies. 😢

This is Xepon market in a satellite, with the large orange roof and many huts around:

Xepon Market on Google maps in 2024

A view of the market from the town's main intersection:

That's the side of the market (above and below) facing the highway:

Dust and trash but it's a market in Asia, always messy...

The same street at the sunset (trash had been swept):

Turning right:

That's the largest construction in the town. Down the road, there is the main intersection with the highway, and the market on the left.

As the administrative center of the district, Xepon has an athletic field as large as a football pitch. There is a place to play volleyball too (behind the guys).

One day, it will be called the Xepon Stadium.

As for the boys, they approached me to be photographed. Thank them for that.

Xepon athletic field on Google Maps in 2024

I am saving screenshots of Google satellite here for history too.

A little baby helping parents to remove branches. The yard is located just on the very central intersection.

That's where you arrive when come to Xepon by bus. The roadside in 30 meters from the central market. However, they do have a real bus station (behind the bus).

This:

Behind the umbrellas. They even have a sign saying "bus station" in English. There is a ticket seller sitting at the table on the veranda of this building, and seats are available under the roof.

The umbrellas are a part of the night market. They sell food (barbecues, etc) to locals and passing truck drivers. I bought boiled corn there, but it wasn't fresh, started rotting, and I never came back. They work with total traveling strangers, can't trust them.

On the contrary, this bakery (buns, baguettes, banh mi) always takes care of its products, I am their regular customer.

Not far from there, I found this creature:

A captive macaque, chained to a stick. She, for sure, has a name, and some kids visit her to enjoy her company. One day she'll become a memory too, poor creature.

50 meters to the east of the market. In the morning they sell piglets at this area. This:

Let's zoom in:

Each wicker basket contains a piglet with the face looking at the bottom of the basket, and the tail and hind legs are seen from the openings.

There is no public space to go out in the evening except restaurants. At least a couple of them have karaoke so you can get drunk and howl Asian songs at night by the dark highway. 😁 That's a lot if you are a truck driver. 😀

But they have a place that could work as the city square for going out at night: a building of an unclear (to me) nature:

and a monument to the father of Lao revolution, Kaysone Phomvihane:

It might be a public space if they bring benches, street lights, and garlands. Right in front of the market, very centrally located, thus. But nowadays, it's always empty. Probably, the place belongs to some governmental structure.

There are inner parts of Xepon, greener and, alas, 😒👎 doggier... 🐕🐕🐕, looking rather like a village than a town:

Not a big fan of dogs, so I followed this street only to choose another one leading to a green area. And that was what I found there:

My #2 favorite domestic animal (right after cats)! ❤️❤️❤️

They are usual in western Georgia (the country) where I was born and spent my childhood so they are not exotic to me. However, I have never had a chance to be frens with one of these marvelous creatures. Always watched them from afar. 😞

So, that's my journey in Xepon. Although I am going to stay here for a while, I have a countdown feeling about me in this town. It's a good feeling - it helps you fight off the attacks of habit and boredom and appreciate what you have and where you are.

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 on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on the 20s of August 2024, in Xepon (Sepon), Laos.