Tuesday, April 25th - More Buddhas Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

Vientiane is the capital of Laos. The entire population of Laos is about 7 million, while the population of Vientiane is about 750,000. It is on the Mekong River and borders with Thailand.

With only a day here, it was hard to get an enormously good grasp on things, but there were several highlights for me.

We began the morning with a visit to COPE, an organization which provides bomb victims with prothetics and coordinates with other agencies on the process of removing unexploded bombs (UXO). It was introduced to us with a movie, which did an excellent job of helping us understand the complexities of safe bomb detonation and removal, as well as giving us an understanding of the economic pressures communities face when a bomb is found - a device that, while it can kill you, also contains a lot of scrap metal that can be sold.

In addition to the movie, there were displays and people's stories depicted, as well as information about how the scrap metal is used. It was well done and was not designed to evoke pity or guilt. I was moved by this mobile depicting lots of 'bombies' raining down from a cluster bomb.

The movie we watched was made by the Australian Broadcasting Commision - here's a link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R13RuM_mstA&list=PL85B9A08339CB3E4F

So, for a completely different flavor, a few of us from the group headed out to a Buddha Park about 40 minutes away. We were not able to discern anything worthwhile about the place - history, underlying message, identity of creator etc, but we did enjoy many of the whimsical images. I spent a lot of effort trying to capture a decent picture of this reclining Buddha. People here attribute Buddha's different positions to the day of the week you were born. As I was born on a Tuesday, I particularly enjoy seeing the reclining Buddha - which is my position. 

Like the White Temple in Chiang Rai,we also had a little concern for the nightmares the artist might experience! This guy was one of my favorites, too. 

Here's a close-up of the ugly dude.

And a more peaceful image to enjoy as an antidote.

I put this musician in here for Robyn Lamp!

My Wiki research says 'The socialist government operates Buddha Park as a tourist attraction and public park'. Wiki also tells us the park was started in 1958 by Luang Pu (Venerable Grandfather) Bunleua Sulilat. He was a priest-shaman who integrated Buddhism and Hiduism. Basically, it is a work of art  rather than a temple. Although the figures look very weathered and old in some cases, they are really not that old.

I think I make a rather fine 'naga' too! Following this we had an ice cream in the cafe behind the naga and then headed back to town for lunch. 

I took it upon myself to visit a few sites the rest of the group had been to the day before while I was in Phonsavan. Although not as picturesque and well-integrated as Luang Prabang, one definitely continues to see the French influence in Vientiane also.

The first was a Buddhist Museum - the Sisaket Museum within Wat Si Saket. As it was built in 1818, this site is a little older. I loved the ornate painted woodwork and the faded colors.

One was not permitted to take photos inside, but it was basically a place where there were many, many, many Buddha statues....

..........some big.........

..........but most of them placed in hundreds of little alcoves along the walls.

Some were a little worse for the wear! The fellow on the left had lost his head! At one time they were apparently silver, but now are just painted clay.

Again, there was not a lot of interpretation, but it consisted of thousand upon thousands of Buddha statues and some lovely old architecture. Although the style of the temple is Thai, it contained the Lao trough for washing the Buddha, which the sign said was a 'hang hod' and defined it as 'a long narrow wooden trough in the form of a naga used for water blessings'.

Finally, a wander down the Vientiane equivalent of the Champs Elysee took me from the Presidential Palace to the Victory Gate - a rather interesting Asian spin on L'Arc de Triomphe. Its proper name is Patuxai and it was built between 1958 and 1969 to commemorate the Laos independence from France. A sign at the site said that it was never completed because of the country's 'turbulent history'. The sign also went on to say, and I quote, 'From a closer distance it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete'. They're really tooting their horn here! LOL!

There was some lovely detail inside near the ceiling, so it is ever was finished, it could be impressive. My 'Googling' said it was built with American funds and cement that had been provided to build an airport, so is affectionately called the 'vertical runway'.

The pool is right next to the Victory Gate and is supposed to play music. The Chinese donated money for this to be built. It was silent when I was there. The building behind it used to be the National Assembly, but is now the Office of the Prime Minister.

That more or less took care of things for the day. Our group had a most enjoyable final dinner together, then the following morning saw us all headed off in our different directions. It had been a delightful journey and the group had functioned well together. It was sad for it to end so soon.