Oberon resident Kay Jones, who is travelling overseas, has been sharing her experiences with Oberon Review readers.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos, one of the few remaining communist states left in the world and one of the poorest.
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I arrived in Vientiane late at night on the bus from north-eastern Thailand. This was my first “border run”, something one has to do if one is a non-Thai and staying or living in Thailand for any length of time.
Vientiane is a small city and easily seen by foot or bicycle.
Visiting sights around Vientiane is easily done in two days. I was there for four days, so I decided to take it all a bit easy and slotted in a two-and-a-half- hour Lao massage and a pedicure and tasted the food at the street stalls and pastries in French bakeries.
One of the most impressive sights in the centre of Vientiane is the Patuxai Arch, or Victory memorial, built between 1957 and 1968 by the Laotians in memory of those who died during World War Two and in their independence from France in 1949.
If you ever go to Vientiane, one of the places you must go and visit is Buddha Park, 25 kilometres east of Vientiane. This park houses over 200 Buddha and Hindu sculptures. It was built by monk Luang Pu Bounleua Sulilat, who studied both Buddhist and Hindu religions. You can see this influence in the sculptures he created as well as many mythological creatures.
I arrived early, around 9am, to beat the heat.
As I walked into the park, the first huge sculpture to catch my eye was a giant pumpkin. The pumpkin had three levels which represented hell, earth and heaven. You enter the pumpkin through the open mouth of this large mythological creature and climb the three levels to the top where you can get a good view over the park.
Another striking sculpture is the reclining Buddha - so huge I couldn't get a full photo of it in one frame.
Although there is not a lot to do in Vientiane, the Buddha Park is definitely worth a visit. Kids would love it as there is plenty of space to run around and enjoy some of the creepy mythological creatures.
Vientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion, but ironically, the city was looted and razed to the ground in 1827 by the Siamese. Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic centre of Laos.
To get there you would need your own transport, or take the number 14 bus or hire a tuk tuk driver. Entry costs 5000 Lao kip.
