FORT CARNOT

In the town of Houay Xay are the remains of Fort Carnot, an army fort built by French forces around 1893 following the acquisition of Laos into French Indochina in 1890. It takes around 10 minutes to reach Fort Carnot in a tuk tuk from the main street, although it is also a walkable distance. Due to no military action here at most times there were only a couple of French officers stationed at the Fort, supported by around 30 Vietnamese and Lao soliders. Although the French influence seems strong, there were never many French nationals posted in Laos. The French Indochina administration was based in Vietnam. After Laos independence from the French in 1954, the Royal Lao Army made use of the Fort until 1975 after which the Lao Army took over the complex and used it for army housing until recently. Fort Carnot is the best- preserved colonial military building in Laos. Along the south wall of Fort Carnot were the kitchen and the jail. The main east and west blocks were probably used for accommodation for the soldiers, and the smaller rooms on the west wing were officers quarters. In the west garrison block, you can see rifle racks on the walls and holes in the walls that would have been made by soldiers hanging up their mosquito nets.