On the road to Vientiane

We left Vang Vieng for the capital city of Laos.  Not all that far in distance but it took about 3 1/2 hours due to the awful condition of the road.  As it is flat countryside, the monsoon rains plus the heavy toll the large trucks driving up and down take on that road means it gets washed out regularly and no matter how much maintenance takes place, the potholes will persist.  It was a slow and bumpy ride village after village.

We stopped at a nice place called Pond of Elephants where centuries ago elephants came to bathe - now only the water buffaloes.

These large docile creatures wallowing in the water are endlessly fascinating to me and I keep snapping them.

The buddhas carved into the rock of the hillside are also interesting.

Arrived in Vientiane.

The Presidential Palace.

The back of the Presidential Palace.

Wat Si Muang temple.  It is rather beautiful and symmetrical.

The entrance to the temple.

In among all that beauty is an ugly power pole.  Talk about spaghetti junction.

The beautiful entrance to the Ong Tu temple.  This temple houses one of the biggest collections of Buddhas in Vientiane, weighing several tonnes. The largest Buddha in Vientiane sits at the back of the sim (prayer room) and gives the monastery its name Temple of the Heavy Buddha.