Things to do
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Buddha Park
Downstream from the city, near the Friendship Bridge, a riverside meadow holds concrete sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu figures cast from the nineteen fifties by a mystic priest who later built a matching park across the border. A pumpkin shaped dome can be entered and climbed for a view over the field. Buses run out from the morning market and take about an hour each way.
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COPE Visitor Centre
Unexploded ordnance from the bombing of Laos still injures farmers and children, and this centre explains the clearance work and fits prosthetic limbs on site. Displays include a cluster bomb casing, home made prosthetics and short documentaries in a small cinema. Entry is free and donations fund limbs. Allow an hour, and expect a sober visit.
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Patuxai
Vientiane built its victory gate in the nineteen sixties with cement donated for an airport runway, which is why residents call it the vertical runway. Khmer and Lao motifs cover a form borrowed from Paris. Stairs climb past souvenir stalls to a rooftop with a straight view down Lane Xang Avenue toward the presidential palace.
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Pha That Luang
Gold plated and shaped like a lotus bud, the national stupa dates from the sixteenth century, was sacked, rebuilt and finally restored under the French. It is the emblem on the state seal and the focus of the Boun That Luang festival each November. Cloisters around the base hold Buddha images; modest dress is required.
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Vientiane Night Market
Red roofed stalls line the Chao Anouvong riverside park each evening, selling clothing, phone cases and Beerlao, while the promenade behind fills with aerobics classes and food carts. Bargaining is normal. Sunset over the Mekong toward Thailand is the reason to arrive before the lights come on; trading runs until about ten.
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Wat Si Saket
Surviving the Siamese sacking of 1828 that flattened the rest of the city, the oldest temple standing in the capital wraps a cloister whose walls hold thousands of small Buddha images in niches. Ordination hall murals are faded and worth a slow look. Shade and quiet make it a good stop in the middle of the day.