Dinosaur museum

This undervisited, hands-on museum is a fascinating insight into the very underexplored prehistory of Savannakhet.

Basic English descriptions are provided, but if you can, let one of the curators tell you all about the partial tangvayosaurus skeletan and T-rex teeth. A range of fossils and rare stones can also be viewed in the museum.

To the right of the admission desk, note the interesting satellite photograph of the Australian-Lao gold mine, which has its own airport to allow the treasures extracted here to be flown directly to Perth.

The museum also houses a few other maps showing where bones and relics have been dug up. The last dig was in 1999-2000, led by a French team. But as the curator lamented the French have gone and left many holes but no money. Much is still to be unearthed in the province.

The museum opens daily from 08:00 to 16:00 but closes for lunch for an hour at noon. It's located opposite the Thai consultate on Khantabouli Road to the north of town near the river.