Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane is a much larger city than LP so it doesn't have the same quaint charm but there are a few museums and larger wats in the area worth exploring.

Patuxay monument is a war monument built between 1957 and 1968, dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France, ironically resembling the Champs Elysees.

Lao National museum

A lot of information about the history going back to prehistoric times, the French involvement (1890's-1950's) and later liberation & creation of the Lao PDR.

That Dam Stupa (black Stupa)

The stupa was once covered in gold, which was pillaged during the Siamese-Laotian war in the late-1820s, and taken to Siam (now Thailand).

Locals believe that a Naga (7-headed water serpent) lived here to protect the stupa, and still regard That Dam as the city’s guardian spirit.

Buddha park

Located about 15 miles outside the city, along the Mekong river, it was constructed in 1958 as a sculpture park, and incorporates Buddhist and Hindu themes. The statues are made of reinforced concrete to appear old, but are not.

COPE museum

The most sobering museum is related to the vast amount of uxo (unexploded ordinance) that still remains in Laos as a result of the Vietnam war (referred to here as the American War).

"From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped over 2 million tons of ordnance over Lao PDR in 580,000 bombing missions the equivalent of one planeload every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 years.

At least 270 million cluster bomblets were dropped as part of this bombing campaign, with 10-30% having not exploded.

To address the unexploded ordnance that still remains on the ground, a UXO survey is conducted in a systematic manner. Village by village, hazardous areas are mapped to be cleared based on local and national priorities."

The display included examples of how the metal from ordinance had been repurposed into household items. The problem with this being that children become accustomed to seeing the metal used in their homes, understand that it has value and are therefore attracted to it when they find the 'bombies' (smaller parts of a cluster bomb) out in the open, not understanding that it could explode. Part of the program here is about creating educational awareness programs to help prevent future accidents.

There have been thousands affected already, with staggering losses of life and limb. The program has an optimistic tone focusing on moving forward and helping those affected.

The program was funded during the Obama administration under USAID, which has recently been dismantled.

It's devastating to consider the insult upon injury of the US government pulling funding to try to help with an issue that they created in the first place.