On June 3, 2023, I arrived in Savannakhet, a city, known as one of the two places to get Thai visa in Laos. For that reason I visited it numerous times in the 2010s.

Preparing documents, standing in lines, all those worries and fears, and bureaucracy sucking up your time and nerves like a hungry vampire.... That's why Savannakhet doesn't sound nice to me. It's like a hospital for my freedom of movement, smelling of medicines and death. In addition, there are too many angry dogs in this sleepy hospital - quite real dogs, not metaphorical 😁

But dogs are most often compatible with life, I said myself, and I set out for a stroll after submitting documents for a Thai visa.

I must say that Savannakhet, although generally boring, has some attractions to offer to a traveler.

Except Buddhist temples, they also have a dinosaur museum and old streets with murals in the manner of Georgetown, Malaysia.

Some walls and buildings look just amazing.

The views give the impression that the city is romantic. But no. Joyful pictures of lively street life exist only on the walls in Savannakhet, and the streets are uncomfortable to walk because of dogs.

Dogs are what people make them. And when a pack of mongrels (not stray at all) rushes at you from behind the bushes, even without warning barking, this does not add liking to the townspeople.

But let's change the topic and look at the cutest felines who made me forget about the dog threat.

This was where I noticed three kittens, one of whom, a red one, started coming to me, meowing:

A square in front of St. Teresa Catholic Church

When I saw those thin kittens, I realized it was time to give a bribe to the god of cats and I went in search of a store. Unfortunately, there were only tiny stores around the place. The best for the kittens I could find was two cans of fish in tomato sauce. This was a quality Thai product, I myself eat it sometimes.

When I came back, the kittens were searching for food by garbage cans.

And again, the red kitten, as soon as he noticed me, began approaching me - the most sociable! Or the hungriest?

The rest of the gang followed him.

So thin! I was filled with pity for the kittens and couldn't decide which one was the most adorable.

Kids surviving by their own on the street, led by red-haired Gavroche, I thought.

It turned out that there were not three of them but four:

She kept aloof like the rest didn't want to accept her. (Maybe, she isn't their sibling?)

Finally, the kittens realized that there was food in front of them:

This is how eyes of the hunger look:

And that moment, I already counted five kittens 😃:

The girl grabbed a piece of fish and separated to dine in peace.

And it was easy to understand when I looked at how boys were eating:

😁

They couldn't finish one fish can. The red boy was licking the tomato sauce for a long while whereas others were chilling out and probably feeling surprised about the fact that hunger is something that can stop.

They all ended up covered with fish, even the girl:

Look how they are merrily pooping together:

Of course, I was glad that I fed these children, but the more I looked at them, the more sad thoughts arose in my head.

Some kittens, the black girl, for example, seemed to be although very thin but relatively healthy. But look at this one:

And the red boy, the one who had started meowed at me and, thus, organized a dinner for the whole company, was the worst:

Looking at these skinny kittens, I thought that they were doomed to die - they had not develop muscles, one of them even limped, and these narrowed eyes that could not normally open made me feel sad.

But There Is Hope

Two girls appeared and started watching me taking images. They showed sympathy for the kittens.

Tough hold... But the girls were stroking the kittens as well:

And again Gavroche was in the center of humans' attention.

I even thought that it could be that these girls were ones who had supported the kittens all the time...

I hope a foreigner's interest to the kittens will convince them to keep helping these poor creatures.

I went to the nearby church to take images of flowers in the yard. There, I was suddenly attacked by a pack of mongrels. I tried to intimidate them but there were six of them against me. I threw a pot with flowers into one of them, and shouted at people nearby to take their dogs away. When several dogs retreated, I chose a couple of canines and started chasing them shouting "I will kill you!" and throwing stones into them... 😒 This was how I left the area...

The next day, I got a Thai visa and headed to Bangkok hoping to never come back to this awful city.

More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.

I took all the images in the post with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D and a Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in June 4, 2023 in Savannakhet, Laos.