Savannakhet: While the rest of the group was finishing breakfast, Peep and I walked around the city, stopping at one of the Catholic Churches left over from French colonial times. After breakfast, we waited around for some members of the group to buy 100+ small loaves of bread. I don't know what they were planning to do with so much bread, but it filled up three garbage bags.
That Phanom: We then crossed to Thailand on the new bridge and went to a monument that looks the same as the That Luang in Vientiane. It was originally of a different design and resided in Laos, but it mysteriously collapsed during one of the wars between the two countries. Its ruins were then transported to Thailand, where it was redesigned to mimic the That Luang and rebuilt where it now stands. There was a festival the weekend we were there, so it was crowded with vendors and revelers.
We stopped for lunch at a big box store with restaurants inside. Peep and I ate at KFC and had DQ for dessert. Then it was more shopping. Shopping and eating were pretty much the theme of the trip. We were already running late (the second theme of the trip) to meet with our car and driver to take us to Khon Kaen for the marathon when we learned that a few others in the group wanted to make an unscheduled side trip to see some weaving, but they were then able to arrange for a car and driver, so we didn't all have to go. We finally arrived in Udon Thani two hours late and met with our driver. We left for Khon Kaen while the rest of the remaining group shopped some more.