Vientiane, Laos

I had a good day but I’m ready to leave Vientiane because I’ve run out of things to do.  

I started the morning off right with a chocolate croissant from the French bakery next door!  Then, I started walking to the COPE visitor’s centre.

Along the way- I want a job like this-

The communist flag-

Another wat-

A brand new electric tuk tuk-

A very modern shopping mall-

The COPE visitor centre is similar to UXO in Luang Prabang except they take things a step further because they provide prostheses and opportunities for people who have been injured by uxos.  

500 kg of UXO were used to create this sculpture in honour of all of those who have been injured or killed-

This map was created by the U.S. Air Force bombing data.  Each red dot represents a bombing mission.  Over 580,000 bombing missions were carried out over Laos-

Prosthesis-

Molds used in prosthetics-

Plaster powder is poured into the mold and plaster bandages are also used to make a cast-

Other assistive devices to make life easier-

Nearby is a gym for the disabled-

I continued walking and passed a few interesting homes-

The wats are more colourful and mystical than I’ve seen before-

Pha That Luang is the most important national monument in Laos.  It measures 223 x 226 feet on the bottom and is 147.6 feet tall.  Originally Buddha’s breast bone was buried inside but the stupa has been plundered, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since the 3rd century.  Only the pinnacle is covered in real gold-

There are numerous statues on display including a sandstone Buddha in the stop fighting with your relatives posture from the 11th-12th century-

Another sandstone Buddha in the meditation posture from the 11th -12th century-

Winner of Enemy posture made of bronze from the 13th century-

A bronze statue in the stop fighting with relatives posture from the 17th century-

A bronze Buddha in the meditation posture from 1957-

Meditation posture-

I like how people have to wear uniforms- in hospitals and offices,  everyone dresses the same-

I had a mango fresh milk bubble tea which was really good-

Lunch was spring rolls and pork dumplings.  The rolls were good but the noodles on the dumplings were too mushy for me-

I walked past the arch-

Mmmm, just what I’m craving - burnt beef-

The night market opened at 6 pm but it was mainly clothes-

There were a few food booths so I tried some fish balls which were delicious-

It was a 10 km day but very comfortable because it was cloudy.  It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so it might be a reading/planning kind of day.  My Cambodia evisa arrived and just in time as I need it for Wednesday.  My arm didn’t bother me at all while walking but we will see about the night!