Sights in Vientiane
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Buddhas
Along the western side of the cloister is a pile of Buddhas that were damaged during the 1828 Siamese-Lao war. And in the sǐm (ordination hall) a slightly damaged Khmer-style Naga Buddha - which depicts the Buddha seated on a coiled cobra deity (naga), sheltered by the naga's multiheaded hood - is also on display just in front of the main seated Buddha; it is believed to date from the 13th century and was brought from a nearby Khmer site.
The sǐm is surrounded by a colonnaded terrace in the Bangkok style and topped by a five-tiered roof. The interior walls bear hundreds of Buddha niches similar to those in the cloister, as well as beautiful - but decaying - Jataka mural…
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Lao National Museum
With a limited collection of historical and revolutionary exhibits, the Lao National Museum will never be confused with the Louvre. But it does serve to sum up the country’s ongoing struggle to come to grips with its own identity, so it’s worth a look.
reviewed
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B
Pha That Luang
The most important national monument in Laos, Pha That Luang is a symbol of both the Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty. Its full official name, Pha Chedi Lokajulamani, means World-Precious Sacred Stupa, and an image of the main stupa appears on the national seal and in countless other places. Legend has it that Ashokan missionaries from India erected a thâat or reliquary stupa here to enclose a piece of the Buddha’s breastbone as early as the 3rd century BC. Excavations have found no trace of this, but did find suggestion of a Khmer monastery that might have been built near here between the 11th and 13th centuries AD.
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Wat Sok Pa Luang
In a shaded, almost semi-rural setting that is entirely in keeping with its name ( wat paa means ‘forest temple’), Wat Sok Pa Luang is famous for its herbal saunas and expert massage. The masseurs are usually lay people who reside at the temple. After a relaxing sauna, you can take herbal tea on the veranda, then opt for a massage. You’re not supposed to wash away your accumulated perspiration for two or three hours afterward to allow the herbs to soak into your pores. A few women have commented that some masseurs may cover more territory than is comfortable. The sauna (US$1) and massage (US$2) operate from 1pm to 7pm daily.
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Patuxai
Reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Patuxai is Vientiane’s most prominent monument. The name is approximately equivalent to Arch ( pátųu, also translated as ‘door’ or ‘gate’) of Triumph ( xái, from the Sanskrit jaya or ‘victory’), but unlike its Parisian namesake the Patuxai boasts four, rather than two, archways. It was built in the 1960s with US-purchased cement that was supposed to have been used for the construction of a new airport. Hence it’s sometimes called ‘the vertical runway’.
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E
Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan
This temple is one of the most important in Laos. It was originally built in the mid-16th century by King Setthathirat and is believed to occupy a site first used for religious purposes as far back as the 3rd century. But like almost every other temple in Vientiane it was destroyed in later wars with the Siamese, then rebuilt in the early 20th century. The Hawng Sangkhalat (Deputy Patriarch) of the Lao monastic order has his official residence here and presides over the Buddhist Institute, a school for monks who come from all over the country to study dhamma (the Buddha’s teachings).
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That Dam
Sitting at the centre of a quiet roundabout near the centre of Vientiane, legend has it that the stupa now known as That Dam was once coated in a layer of gold. The gold is said to have been carted off by the Siamese during their pillaging of 1828, after which the stupa took the ‘black’ sobriquet in memory of the dastardly act. However, another myth is slightly at odds with this. It says That Dam is the abode of a dormant seven-headed dragon that came to life during the 1828 Siamese–Lao war and protected local citizens, though apparently not the stupa’s gold…
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Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial
Opened in 1995 to celebrate the late president’s 75th birthday, the Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial, near Km 6 on Rte 13 south, serves as a tribute to Indochina’s most pragmatic communist leader. The memorial is actually two jarringly different sites. Kaysone’s old house is a model of modesty suggesting he might have lived in less luxury than any other world leader. In contrast the museum is a vast Vietnamese-style celebration of the cult of Kaysone, a cult he never encouraged. Visit the house first.
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G
Lao National Culture Hall
Opposite the Lao National Museum, and dwarfing it, is the monumentally proportioned Lao National Culture Hall. The outsized and ugly hall was built by the Chinese government in the late 1990s as a ‘gift to the people of Laos’. It hosts occasional cultural events as varied as French cinema, Lao classical dance and even beauty pageants, but with no publicly available schedule of events you’ll need to keep a close eye on the Vientiane Times for an announcement.
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Wat Si Saket
Built between 1819 and 1824 by Chao Anou, Wat Si Saket is believed to be Vientiane’s oldest surviving temple. And it shows; this beautiful temple-cum-national museum is in dire need of a face-lift.
reviewed
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Wat Si Muang
The most frequently used grounds in Vientiane are those of Wat Si Muang, the site of the lák meuang (city pillar/phallus), which is considered the home of the guardian spirit of Vientiane.
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Xieng Khuan
In a field by the Mekong River about 24km south of central Vientiane, Xieng Khuan is a park full of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture that is a monument to one eccentric man’s quite bizarre ambition.
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Haw Pha Kaeo
Once a royal temple built specifically to house the famed Emerald Buddha, Haw Pha Kaeo is today a national museum of religious art. It is about 100m southeast of Wat Si Saket.
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