Vientiane, Laos

Buddha Park

We spent a few days wandering around the capital city of Laos, Vientiane (pronounced Vieng Chang actually, the French renamed it). One thing of note: there are no fast food restaurants or chain stores in this country! No McDonald's!

Those were our last days in Laos. We really enjoyed it there, but we only touched the surface. There is so much we really didn't get to see. There is a lot of wilderness in the north where you can trek and do float trips. We didn't even get to the historic Plain of Jars area (that was heavily bombed by the USA during the secret CIA war). And we didn't get to the south of Laos at all. On another trip perhaps. We were amazed at the poverty but surprised at how content the people are. We couldn't figure out whether the government was still communist, or now if it is a socialist, but most definitely a 1 party government since 1975 when the communists took over power from the Royalty. The capital city was full of outside interests (UN, French, US and other programs).

We visited Buddha Park, where a creative artist made Hindu Buddhist sculptures, most of which are very different. We also had a nice Lao dinner of larp and ginger chicken over the Mekong River scenery. Our stomachs weren't too happy the next day--- the larp was SO SPICY.

Now we are on to the touristy Angkor Wat in Cambodia. More posts later.

Here are some photos from Laos:

Putuxai (constructed of American concrete intended for an airport runway)

But Coke and Pepsi are available in most places, except perhaps the villages. Luke drinking one at the oldest wat in Vientiane

view from our room in Vientiane

Jo Ma Bakery croissants for breakfast

Buddha Park

Buddha Park

Buddha Park

Sunset dinners on the Mekong

Communist propaganda everywhere