Vientiane, Laos was a bit of a stop-over city for us. I had read about Buddha Park and we decided to stay a couple days and check it out. We had been warned that it wasn’t too exciting, and while I would agree, we still managed to keep ourselves entertained for our extra day.
Our first morning mission was to get some coffee. We found a lady on the street making fresh coffee with sweet condensed milk (my new favorite) and we ordered one to share as they came in these giant bags! That’s right, I had a bagga’ Joe.
The beautiful Wat Sisaket Museum, built in 1818 (sorry there are no photos from the inside, as they’re not allowed) is one of the oldest standing temples in Vientiane. They are working on restorations of the paintings on the inside of the temple and the surrounding courtyard which contains over 2,000 Buddha figures.
The paint seen behind this Buddha figure is an example of the restorations being done here. It’s going to look striking, although I like the rustic look as well.
This is the shrine outside of Sisaket Temple. It’s definitely a beautiful example of a Laos shrine.
We tried to go to the National Museum, but it was closed and construction was happening on the main building. However, we did get to see this really cool exhibit of carvings on these tree trunks and roots. So impressive!
Near the river is Anouvong Park and inside the park with a massive statue of King Anouvong who sought to lead a revolution, but failed & ended up dying in a Thai prison. Regardless, he is see as a national hero and this statue has Anouvong facing the Mekong River & Thailand with an outstretched hand. Anouvong had ordered that Wat Sisaket be built and it was the only main Buddhist temple that wasn’t destroyed during the sacking of Vientiane. Below the statue, there are tons of small offerings to this national hero left daily.
To be honest, I’m not sure of the name of this beautiful Buddhist temple. I popped in on the way back to our hostel to just have a short, quiet moment. I love stopping by the neighborhood temples and taking the time to appreciate the opportunity I have to be right there in that moment.
On our way to dinner we stopped into this adorable bookstore. The couple who owned it was incredibly sweet and we were so happy to support their business and we each got a travel book that we enjoyed!
For dinner we went to Lao Kitchen. Stacey found this restaurant on Trip Advisor and it was the perfect spot for a nice Laotian dinner. Their menu had local cuisine, was a nicer sit-down restaurant but still reasonably priced), and the really cool part is they have this thing called “tourist-style” where the food is still very much Laos food, but a bit less intimidating.
Stacey and I opted for fried spring rolls and tofu lab- tourist style (less spicy and no fermented fish sauce). It was very yummy and nice to have a nicer meal for our last night in Vientiane.
Although Vientiane wasn’t a favorite city, we still saw interesting & unique things here. If you’re curious, definitely stop in and if you have to pass through to your next stop definitely leave time to explore Buddha Park.
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