Description
Laos is today one of Asia’s most enchanting travel destinations, visited by over 4 million tourists a year. It is a land of astounding natural beaty and unusually rich, diverse and ancient cultures, with distinct architecture, art and cuisine. However, until recent times, Laos was seldom visited by outsiders. This was due to long periods of political instability, as well as since before the development of modern air travel networks, the country was very difficult to reach and traverse. While it lies along the Mekong River, this route is only partially navigable, while the terrain is very rugged.
Laos has its origins in the Lan Xang kingdom, a wealthy and culturally sophisticated nation that existed from 1373 to 1707, the territory of which covered all the today’s Laos, plus some marginal parts of other nations. At the nexus of major trading routes and a great source of commodities, Land Xang was for centuries one of the most powerful states in Southeast Asia.
The dominant ethnic group of the county are the Lao people, who speak a Tai language (related to Thai), with the Lao Theung people (who speak a Mon-Khmer language, related to Khmer and Vietnamese) being a large minority, although the country is very demographically diverse, home to dozens of other ethnic groups and sub-groups.
During the early 18th century, the Lan Xang kingdom collapsed, plunging the country into an era of turmoil, leading to the formation of three separate states upon its former territory, being the kingdoms of Luang Prabang (north), Vientiane (centre) and Champasak (or Bassac, south). During the early 19th century, the kingdoms of Vientiane and Champasak became Siamese puppet states, although Luang Prabang largely retained its independence.
In the 1886, as France was consolidating its control over Vietnam and Cambodia, towards forming the mega-colony of French Indochina (1887), it dispatched the fantastically effective diplomat-explorer August Pavie to be their Consul in Luang Prabang. Pavie cultivated a close relationship with the royal court and, in 1889, Luang Prabang agreed to become a French protectorate (as they feared encroachment from Siam, as well as attacks by Chinese renegade armies).
In 1893, France formally created the French Protectorate of Laos (Protectorat français du Laos), out of Luang Prabang, inventing the term “Laos” to serve as the name of the of country. There then followed a showdown with Siam for control over Vientiane and Champasak, in which it triumphed, taking control of the former in 1899 and the latter in 1904, so creating Laos in its modern form. The King of Luang Prabang was made the technical sovereign of Laos, although ultimate power lay with France.
France made Laos a part of French Indochina; however, unlike in Vietnam and Cambodia, where they sought to maintain tight control, its footprint in Laos was very light. While some notable adventurers and scientists had an intense fascination for the country, the French government and commercial establishment generally considered Laos to be a backwater, the best use of which was simply to act as buffer to protect Vietnam from Siam and China. Amazingly, there were never more than 200 to 400 Frenchmen in Laos at any given time prior to World War II. While the French ‘Administration’ maintained control over things like infrastructure and some social services, most matters of day-to-day governance remained under the auspices of indigenous officials, while Chinese and Vietnamese traders dominated the formal economy.
While the French created a steamship line on the Mekong, improved some roads, and developed a decent telegraph and postal system, overall, relatively little money or attention was lavished upon Laos, such that it remained “off the beaten track”. Even well into the 20th century, only a handful of very intrepid French traders, scientists, anthropologists and officials visited the county per annum, such that Laos remained one of the few places largely unaffected by colonialism. The outsiders who did make the trip to Laos invariably found it to be an almost mystical experience.
Enter Antonin Baudenne: Revealing Laos to the World
Antonin Baudenne was an explorer, journalist, linguist and civil servant, who was instrumental in introducing Loas to the French and Western consciousness, having been deeply integrated into the country’s culture for many years. While strangely it is hard to find most of his biographical details, he was a prominent figure in Franco-Asian colonial circles.
Around the turn of the century, Baudenne was posted to Vientiane, where he eventually rose to become the Chief Clerk of the Franco-Lao Administration. He developed a profound love for the country, its people and landscapes and proved adept at mastering several of its languages, while one of his great passions was exploring ancient Lan Xang, Khmer and Cham monuments. Rather unusually for the time, he married a Laotian woman, forging a permanent connection with the country.
Baudenne’s best known work is his semi-autobiographical novel, Sao Tiampa, épouse Laotienne laotienne (Paris: Éditions Grasset, 1912), which paints Laos as an “intoxicating landscape” with an allure more “more dangerous than opium and alcohol combined”.
Baudenne also served as the editor of La Revue Indochinoise, one of Southeast Asia’s most prestigious and widely read magazines (published in Hanoi from 1897-1927). He published many articles, as well as writng monographs (both manuscript and hectographed) for private circulation on Laotian affairs. A prime example is his “Lexique de la langue Seck” (Vientiane, c. 1910), a pioneering study of Saek, a Tai language spoken in the Khannouane province of Laos and the Nakhon Phanom province of Thailand.
The Present Work in Focus
Present here is the original hectographed proof of Baudenne’s most important and influential non-fiction work, being the first travel guide to Laos. The work is geared to the serious and curious, people who had a great desire to visit the country for professional or intellectual reasons.
While Loas offered the visitor a life-changing experience of enlightenment and the people are famously hospitable, Baudenne is clear that Loas was an extremely rough place to travel. With its very rugged topography, great distances and poor infrastructure, and far fewer European amenities than would be available in Vietnam or Thailand, one would need to be ultra-prepared. Even the best-equipped travelers would have to get used to camping and spending many hours on mules and canoes in uncomfortable circumstances.
While many previous travel accounts had been published by visitors to Laos, none of these attempted to educate the reader on how to visit the country, which is the main task of the present guide. While Baudenne discusses the principal natural and cultural wonders of Laos, his focus is upon the practical matters that are urgently required for the traveler. Drawing upon his many years of exploring Laos, he discusses when to visit the country, what modes of travel are available (noting travel distances, times and costs), as well what foods, medicines, clothing and equipment and packs, and what amenities (guest houses, clinics) are to be had en route.
Importantly, Baudenne meticulously details virtually all the major travel routes about Laos, both up the Mekong and into the interior, granting travelers a stellar impression of what they could expect.
Baudenne wrote the present proof of his ‘A travers le Laos. Guide à l’usage des voyageurs’ in Vientiane, completing it in January 1911. It would have been hectographed in only a handful of examples, from a now likely now lost manuscript, for private circulation amongst his friends and colleagues, before being submitted for publication. It was first formally printed as an article, ‘A travers le Laos (Guide à l’usage des voyageurs)’, in the specialist magazine issued in Hanoi, the Bulletin economique de l’Indochine (mai-juin 1911). To reach a wider audience, it was soon reissued as a standalone book, Baudenne’s A travers le Laos: guide à l’usage des voyageurs / Extrait du Bulletin economique de l’Indochine (Hanoi: Imprimerie d’Extrême-Orient, 1911). Content wise, the published editions are perfectly faithful to the present proof, save for a few very minor corrections and amendments (while adding a map).
The present proof seems to be unrecorded, while both formally printed versions are today very rare. Baudenne’s work proved highly influential in its time within select communities, such a French colonial officials and soldiers, merchants, adventurers and academics. It would not be superseded for many years.
Baudenne’s objective in writing the guide are articulated in the preface (pp. 1-2), which reads:
“The ever-increasing number of traders and tourists who visit Laos, and the economic expansion that this country is experiencing has been, until yesterday, neglected, and so we decided to group together in a summary work the information essential to travellers, allowing them to explore fruitfully, in time, the shorter and with minimum expense, the most interesting regions of this Indochinese Union.
Loas deserves to attract the attention of those tempted by the artistic and natural beauties of the Colony. The splendour of its vegetation, the picturesqueness of the ruins, the variety of sites, the relative mildness of the climate, the diversity of the races as well as the singularity of customs are an inexhaustible source of interest.
We easily enter the very heart of the country via the major arteries which connect the Mekong to the sea: the road from Savannaket to Quang-tri; the road from Pak-Hinboun to Vinh via Hatrai; the road from Paksane to Vinh via Xieng-khouang; but the amenities of these routes do not exclude the unforeseen events which is the prerogative of new countries, and which adds to the charms of travel. If, wishing to leave the beaten track, the tourist wants to explore lesser-known regions, to linger on special studies, he will find with the provincial chiefs, at the same time as an effective competition, all the useful elements of intelligence.
By publishing this work, we want to facilitate access to a country which, from many points of view, deserves to be known and appreciated, we hope that the first essay will be of some service and we hope that it will decide some traveller to produce a more complete guide, this means that we do not, of course, claim to make Laos known in these few pages, we strongly urge all those who would like to come and visit this country to read the works listed under the heading ‘Bibliography’.”
The section on ‘Renseignements généraux’ [General Information] (pp. 3-17), concerns all manner of practical guidance on how to travel to and within Loas. It commences with noting that it is suitable to visit the interior of Laos only between November 1 and April 1, being the dry season, otherwise the roads are impassable, although travel on the Mekong is easier during the rainy season. The “charm” of the “winter months” is “compensation” for a traveller’s “labours”. As “domestic service being rare there”, one should hire a cook before arriving in Laos.
Concerning transportation, on river is it carried out by boats run by the ‘Compagnie des Messageries Fluviales’, but also canoes and more rarely rafts. On land, one employs horses, mules, elephants, carts and “exceptionally” travelling on the backs of men (a practice the colonial authorities find disagreeable). Details are given on the merits and costs of all modes of transport. ‘Coolies’, who serve as porters, can carry between 25 to 30 kgs (moving at a speed of 4 km per hour on plains, 3 km in mountains, and can make 25 km per day), at a cost of $20-30 per diem.
In many places, travellers can stay overnight in salas (Lao-style bungalows) and pagodas. These are of a “summary construction”; however, the Laotians are “naturally hospitable”. The colonial administration has also established guest houses with kitchens at key junctures.
Laos is rough country. Baudenne thus gives a lengthy list of items needed for the journey, whether in canoes, camping, or staying in salas, incuding bedding, cooking utensils, medicine (notably quinine), portable furniture and clothing. The costs of foodstuffs in Laos is discussed, including that for various meats, rice, bananas, and firewood, while there are charts of conversions from Laotian to French measurements.
A full-page chart, “Postes et Télégraphes” (after p. 17), lists all the telegraph and post offices in Laos, with the services they provide.
Laos is an “excellent country for hunting”, home to many targets, from elephants down to birds.
As for ‘Curiosités’ (Cultural Sites and Beauty Spots), Baudenne highlights Khong Falls; Séset and Sénoi Falls (Saravane Province); the Bolaven Plateau; visits with the ethnic groups of the provinces of Saravane and Attropeu and in the Upper Mekong; the Foot of Buddha (Attopeu); Khmer ruins of Wat Phu (Bassac Province); Cham ruins of Huen Hin (Savannakhet Province); the Pagoda of Song Hak; Ban-lê; Muong-sen; Plain of Jars (Xieng-khouang); Vientiane; the ruins of Xieng-sène; and the Cave of Phakou, to the north of Luang Prabang.
The climate varies, due the season (rainy or dry) and the elevation.
Baudenne next provides a short history of Laos, noting that Europeans can only reliably trace the country’s history back to the 18th century. Beyond that, records are comprised of “imprecise data and confusing legends”. He mentions the kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane to its south, and how in 1825 the Siamese invaded and dismembered the latter. The Siamese propped up the Kingdom of Bassac, and during the great period of instability that followed, Chinese “plunderers from Yunnan” ravaged the country before Siam reasserted control. France intervened from 1886, commencing with the “tireless activity” of Auguste Pavie, who established French political and commercial dominance. After a showdown with Siam, he made Laos a French protectorate in 1893, with its boundaries extended ever further south until 1907.
The surface area of Laos is estimated to be 267,000 km sq. The December 1909 census records Laos as having a population of 584,000 indigenous people (including 274,000 ethnic Laotians and 188,700 Lao Theung (35 tribes), who speak a Mon-Khmer language, then often referred to as the ‘Khas’, meaning ‘slave’, today a pejorative term; while the rest are comprised of a great diversity of peoples, each listed by community and their numbers. Beyond that, there were only 228 Europeans in Laos (221 French, 7 foreigners).
The French colonial government, known as the ‘Administration’, was headed by the Résident Supérieur (the representative of the Governor-General of French Indochina), in Vientiane. In each of the country’s 11 provinces, the top French administrator was the ‘Commisariat’. Each province was divided into several districts, or ‘Muongs’, each overseen by an appointed native leader, called a ‘Chau-Muong’.
The annual budget of the Administration for 1911 was $960,282.25, and a listing of all divisions of expenditure are given (with transportation, being very substantial, accounting for $284,637).
Baudenne provides a detailed chart, ‘Les Provinces sont, du Nord au Sud’ listing Laos’s 11 provinces (Haut-Mékong, Cammon, Luang-Prabang, Vientiane, Savannakhet, Paksé, Khong, Xieng-Khouang, Muong-Son, Saravane, Attopeu), their capitals and the names of the Muongs in each, while listing the number of villages per Muong.
There then follows, the ‘Notice descriptive sur les escales’ [Descriptive Notes on Stopovers] (ff. 18-30), describing the various stages of ascending the Mekong from ‘De Phnom-Penh à Vientiane’, whether by river steamer, canoe or land, noting all the towns and sites along the way.
The various stations in Cambodia on the Mekong, from Phnom-Penh to the Laotian border are described. One enters Laos at Khong, where there are great waterfalls, which must be bypassed by either canoe or on land. At Khong there is a telegraph station managed by a Laotian, while commerce is dominated by Chinese and Vietnamese traders. Visitors can find room and board at the local French government post.
The waterfalls at Khong are described as being up to 18 metres high, being “immense sheets of water” surging among the rocks, amidst a “grandiose landscape”. The Khong Province is home to “fertile and well cultivated plains”, yet it is “seeing its importance decrease day by day”, as Khong was being gradually replaced by Houei Kinak as the amin transhipment point in southern Laos. While most residents are ethnic Laotians, there are also many Cambodians, Vietnamese and Lao Theung. There then follows a listing of several land communication routes from Khong.
Bassac is next major town upriver, being an “attractive and eventful post at the foot of the Bassac Mountains” run by an indigenous governor, who is direct descendent of the former King of Champasak. There is a telegraph post, while indigenous trade is “very considerable”, dominated by Chinese companies; there is also a daily market. It is home to the magnificent Wat Fou, the ‘Pagoda of the Mountains’, a masterpiece of Khmer architecture.
Further still is Paksé, the chief town of Bassac (Champasak) Province, at the confluence of the Sédon and Mekong rivers. It features new administrative buildings, erected in 1906-7, and a telegraph post run by a European agent. There is a pharmacy and a clinic run by a doctor from the colonial army that can accommodate 6-8 Europeans and 40-50 indigenous patients. The province has 38,000 residents and 145 villages.
Next is Ban Pong, where the river narrows, featuring a great series of rapids, running up to Keng Ta Tiene, posing a great challenge to navigation. The rapids were traditionally “impassable”, but since 1903, steamers had learned to navigate the maelstroms, allowing passage, such that they can now travel, during the rainy season, uninterrupted from Khong to Savannakhet, otherwise the route is only passable by canoe.
After Keng Ta Tiene, the Mekong returns to a “normal” course, as navigation is “easy”, although there are many shoals during the dry season. At Huen Hin there are ruins of a great Cham temple dedicated to Indra.
Beyond is Savannakhet, is a “well-appointed urban centre” and the origin of a road that connects to Vietnam. It has a telegraph post and hosts a vibrant commercial zone with Chinese and Vietnamese shops and a market. The population of the province consists of 75,000 Laotians and 400 foreign Asians.
Next is Pak-hinboun, the capital of Cammon province. It has a market and lies at the base of road with goes up to cross into Vietnam at the Hatrai Pass. The province has 38,000 inhabitants of great demographic diversity. The area is home to great caves with stalactites that can be visited by canoe.
Above is Paksane, the starting point of a cart and rickshaw road leading to Vinh, on the coast of Vietnam. This road is an impressive work of engineering, as it rises to height of over 1,700 metres, but its gradient never exceeds 3%. The trip from Paksane to Vinh takes 9 days and passes many great cultural sights.
Vientiane, the colonial capital, is home to ruins of a “delicate and elegant art”, highlighted by the Pra-Kéo Pagoda; That-Luong, the high pyramids of Buddhist worship; and Siskhet, a place of pilgrimage, with many newly restored Buddhas. There is a postal and telegraph station, pharmacy, and a two-storey hospital that can treat 6 Europeans and 50 natives. Business is dominated by Chinese and Vietnamese traders, while there is also a French trading house. Vientiane Province has a population of 51,580.
The Mekong further up, above Xieng-Khan village “suddenly changes” and “become sinuous, enclosed between high rock masses”, with a width that in places narrows to only 50 metres. There are “violent rapids”, but this does not prevent navigation. At high water, ascending the river from Vientiane to Luang Prabang takes 5 days, while descending takes 24 hours.
Luang Prabang, is described as the “capital of a small, fairly prosperous kingdom” and a “very busy place of trade”, with close connections to Siam, Burma and the Shan States. It has a “joyful buzz” and is home to a temple with the Footprint of Buddha. A “charming setting”, the city had a “reputation for elegance”, and the visitor is “easily seduced by the gracious character of the people”.
The Mekong from Luang Prabang to Ban-Houei-Sai is navigable all year long, but at a point goods must be unloaded from the boats (to make them lighter), and then carried by land to be reloaded further upriver. Ban-Houei-Sai is the capital of the Haut-Mekong, a province with a diverse population of 37,000. It is connected to major Chinese and Burmese caravan routes.
In a section called ‘Diverse Itinéraires’ (pp. 31), the itinerary from Stung-Treng (Cambodia) to Attopeu, in far south-eastern Laos (pp. 32-3), is discussed. The 125 km route travels up the Sékong and Sékamane rivers, a voyage that takes between 10 to 18 days outwards, and 3 to 6 days on the return. Attopeu, located upon the Sékamane River, is the capital of the province, which is home to 12 Lao Theung tribes who are said to have customs very different from the Lao. The Chinese sell forestry products and there is a “fairly busy market”, while the locals pay for goods with “gold powder. The province has a population of 50,000.
The itinerary from Pakse to Saravane, in the interior to the northeast (p. 34), is a
mixed canoe-land travel route. It takes 5 days outwards and 3-4 days return. The Saravanne area has a population of 50,000, being mostly Lao Theung people, of which some near the Annamite border “still escape our control”. It is a place of “picturesque and captivating landscapes and wonderful hunting grounds”. The telegraph services cater to Indochinese money orders. A key site is Séset Falls, about 6 hours from Saravane.
Notably, Baudenne provides 6 charts, printed on double pages, that each describe a major itinerary, heading to and within Laos. Each chart notes every stop along the voyage, describing the amenities (guest houses, etc.) available at each, the modes and transport and distances in kms and travel times between each point, as well as the main sites, plus, any observations. Each chart features short manuscript descriptions to their versos. They are so follows:
[1]. De Saigon à Luang-prabang par le fleuve Mékong (montée / suite / Suite et fin) (3 double-pages, placed before p. 18), being an overview of the general route from Saigon up the Mekong up to Vientiane.
Charts placed after p. 34:
[2]. De Savannakhet à Quang-Tri et Hué (suite) (2 double-pages), being the route from Savannakhet, on the Mekong, in south-central Laos, up and over the mountains to the sea at Quang-Tri and Hué in Vietnam.
[3]. De Paksane à Xieng-Khouang (1 double-page), describes the route from Paksane, on the Mekong, up to Xieng-Khouang, in the interior to the north-northwest.
[4]. De Xieng-Khouang à Luang-prabang (1 double-page), continues the trip, from Xieng-Khouang west-northwest to Luang Prabang.
[5]. De Luang-prabang à Vinh (suite) (2 double-pages), covers the grand itinerary from Luang Prabang up and over the mountains to the sea, at Vinh, Vietnam.
[6]. De Vinh à Pak Hinbou (1 double-page), shows the itinerary form Vinh, Vietnam, back up and over the mountains to Pak Hinbou, in central Laos.
Of great value, a the end of the work, Baudenne provides a the first comprehensive bibliography on Laos. It features dozens of entries of diverse works, divided into categories, which would have been very difficult to compile, and would have been vitally use to anyone seeking to continue Baudenne’s work.
References: N/A – present hectographed proof seemingly unrecorded. Cf. [re: subsequent printed editions:] Antonin BAUDENNE, ‘A travers le Laos (Guide à l’usage des voyageurs)’, Bulletin economique de l’Indochine, no 90 (mai-juin 1911), pp. 285-330, followed by a folding map; Antonin BAUDENNE, A travers le Laos: guide à l’usage des voyageurs / Extrait du Bulletin economique de l’Indochine (Hanoi: Imprimerie d’Extrême-Orient, 1911).
