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Vientiane, the
capital city of Laos, is located on the bank of the
Mekong River. It is the busiest place in the
country but the pace is much slower and the
attitude is more relaxed when compared to other
major cities in Southeast Asia and thus making
it popular among tourists wanting to take a nice
break drinking Beer Lao by the river after a
spending a few hectic days at Bangkok, Hanoi or
even at Phnom Penh.
Photo: Victory Monument in Vientiane
Vientiane's violent
history of having many conquerors such as the
Vietnamese, Siamese, Khmer and French has given
it an interesting ambience due to the confluence
of the different cultures that existed during
its one thousand years of history. The small,
slowly modernizing Laos capital has fields of
rice and vegetables hidden behind tree lined
boulevards. French historical buildings can be
seen next to Buddhist temples.
The single most
important monument in Laos, the beautiful golden
That Luang stupa is located about 4 kilometers northeast
of the city centre. It is the symbol of the
Buddhist religion and also the Lao sovereignty.
Built in 1566, it was damaged during the Siamese
invasion but was restored in the 1930s. A statue
of King Setthathirat can be seen in front of the
entrance. That Luang Festival, the biggest
annual event in Laos is held here in
mid-November.
Also built by King
Setthathirat is the Wat Ho Prakeo temple, the former
home-temple of the Emerald Buddha statue or Pra
Keo. Another place of interest is the Patuxai in
which its architecture was inspired from the Arc
de Triomphe of Paris. Commonly known by the
locals as anusawali, this Victory Monument was
built in commemoration of the Lao people who had
died in the pre-revolutionary wars. From the top
of the monument, a panoramic view over Vientiane
could be seen.
Another popular
tourists attraction is Wat Sisaket temple, built in
1818 by King Anouvong, it is the oldest temple
in Vientiane. The interior walls of the cloister
are full with small niches that contain more
than 8000 Buddha images.
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