We didn't really have all that much time in Vientiane, today at 2 pm we had to take a bus to Vang Vieng so we only had the morning to explore the city.
The whole group decided to hire a tuk tuk to go to a couple of temples.
Our first was SISAKET MUSEUM where they had a gallery of Buddhas! Apparently this temple survived the destruction of the city by the Siamese army in the 1800c
Some Buddhas were big statues and on the walls they had little niches were there were tons of mini Buddhas. I think that all together they have more than 6,000 Buddhas in this place!
We decided that this was the perfect spot for a couple of group pictures :-)
The details in these temples is impressive! I always wonder how so many years ago they constructed things that are this beautiful and complicated!
One thing that I have also noticed in Laos is that there is a lot more monks than in Vietnam. Here in Laos you see them everywhere!!!
Our second stop was HO PHRA KEO MUSEUM... This "museum" was beyond beautiful... The details were so delicate and perfect! The whole thing was amazing to see!
Then we headed to PATUXAI, which is an arc like the arc du triomphe in France! The arc is a war monument dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France!
The arc had beautiful paintings and is decorated with mythological creatures. We went up to the top and we got a beautiful view of Vientiane!
Last stop was PHRA THAT LUANG MUSEUM which is a huge stupa where some remains of lord Buddha are kept. Apparently this is the most important national monument in Laos.
There were tons of people worshipping, doing chantings, and leaving food and flowers as offerings.
We kept walking around Phra That Luang and we found some other beautiful temples that were perfect for a group photo!!
We then headed back towards the hotel where we stopped at a local street restaurant for pad Thai for $2... Yummm
At 1:30 we left Vientiane and headed over to Vang Vieng!!!
The whole way was extremely windy (as if in many curves) so I slept the whole four hours in order not to get sick. Miriam, one of new members of the group was feeling very sick and had a really hard time the whole drive! :-(
On our way we had a pee stop and noticed OLeang getting an iced Thai tea that looked really amazing so I decided to get one... They put together in a cup at least 1/2 cup of condensed milk, Thai tea, syrup, and evaporated, they mixed it all together and put it in a huge bag with ice... Ta-dah! A 20 thousand calories drink... I think I'm 2 days away from type 2 diabetes!!! You can see video on Instagram @andreawhereabouts)
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