HowesIT in Malaysia: Laos the land of 1 million Elephants!

Laos the land of 1 million Elephants! And almost as many surprises...

Vietiane as seen from the top of PatuXai. There was a great local market halfway back along this road.

We arrived in Vientiane mid afternoon and we weren’t looking forward to the queues for visas or the touting for taxi fares that you often get at Asian destinations. We were pleasantly surprised the visa on arrival queue was short and very efficient. The taxi ticketing system worked like a dream and in no time at all we were on our way to our hotel. Our next surprise was how close the airport is to town.

Avilla Phousok, was great little base for the two nights we had planned in Vientiane. Our first mission was to refuel after a short wander through the streets we found a place to eat. We were also happy to find that US dollar, Thai Baht or the local Kip was ok to pay for our meal and drink.

The rainclouds gethering over the Mekong, evening along the waterfront in Vientiane.

We spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening exploring the river front, nearby temples and the night market. The tuk tuk drivers were very friendly, all had offers to take us places. Friendly but not too pushy, we liked that. The night market was quite big with lots of stalls offering all sorts of everything. Behind the night market, beside the Mekong there were lots of locals out enjoying the evening air. Lots of young people, kicking a football, hitting a shuttle and just enjoying the company of other young people. A couple of drinks and we did return to an early night back in our room.

The next day we spent wandering and exploring.....


We enjoyed a good hour or teo in the grounds of Haw Pha Kai. There are some very interesting Buddha Statues here.

These Buddha caught my eye lined up outside the Wat.

We found Haw Pha Kai, which is a museum of Buddha. This is housed in an old temple that has managed to survive previous invasions of Vientiane. There are many Buddha here that are significant. Unfortunately there are not a lot of labels or explanations. The environment is great with a pleasant little garden. This was a nice little haven in the heart of the city.

Very calm and contented.

Almost directly across the road from Haw Pha Kai is another temple that is a museum. Once again very old.. .this temple has thousands of Buddha, I believe among some of the oldest in Laos. There is currently restoration work taking place on the buildings and the grounds. It is well worth exploring in here. There are also stupa where the remains of Royal family are entombed.

Protector of the temple gates.

Our next point of interest was Patu Xai or the victory arch. This enormous concrete structure certainly makes an impressive sight. You can pay a small fee and climb to the top to get a grand view out over the city. In the middle of the arch on the way up is an interesting souvenir shop. With tee shirts galore...All in my size so I am led to believe. Apparently the Patu Xai was built from cement donated by the US for building a run way. I guess that might have been a victory for the people of Laos itself??