Concrete Jungle

There is a park just outside of Vientiane called Xieng Khuan, which means "spirit city", but is often just called "Buddha Park". It is filled with concrete statues created by supposedly untrained artists under the direction of a religious man that blended Buddhist and Hindu philosophy (which already share some traditions and beliefs.)

Here is a selection of some of my favorites...

The requisite reclining Buddha, of course...

I tried to ask this guy for directions, but he was not very helpful. :)

So, I think I need to explain this one... This is a three-story concrete structure that is lit only by the sunlight entering the windows. You enter through the mouth-shaped doorway, after much crouching. Inside, on each level, you find a hallway around the perimeter, with a single center room filled with statues that are impossible to see in the dark. There are precariously constructed stairs leading up to each level and eventually to the roof.

But the dubious climb rewards you with a view of the park.

At the top, I met a couple from Austria (Rita and Sepp) and a group of young monks. I talked with the monks for about 20 minutes. They think its funny that Westerners always ask if the monks find it difficult to clear their mind for deep meditation. As one of them explained to me, "You cross your legs, breathe through your nose, and clear your mind -- it's not hard at all." I guess we have trouble clearing all of the clutter of our hectic lives from our brains.

At the end of the day, I headed back into Vientiane and visited Pha That Luang, which is the symbol of the city. It was built in the 16th century on the site of a Khmer monastery and, an unlikely legend has it, on top of a stupa containing a piece of the Buddha's breastbone. It was sacked in the 18th and 19th centuries by Siamese and Burmese invaders and rebuilt twice in the early 20th century by the French. (Apparently, they didn't get it right the first time.)