Vientiane – Buddha Park

Where else in the world would have a theme park where the main attraction is an obscure three storey head that one can climb through? Vientiane in Laos of course! I’m using the term “theme park” pretty broadly here. While Buddha Park is based on the theme of buddhas, there isn’t a gravitron or ferris wheel in sight.

Climbing through the obscure head is supposed to represent hell, earth and heaven. Don’t know what the branch-like sculpture on top is supposed to mean.

Buddha Park really was a lot of fun. There was cupid and his arrow rising high in the sky as well as the 20 metre long reclining Buddha. For a city with few tourist attractions the place was surprisingly empty.

Catching the local bus back to the city certainly was amusing. It was more a mini-bus than a usual sized public bus, and everyone seemed to want to squash up next to the driver. We must’ve been doing something pretty funny because the locals on the bus found us most amusing. So what if we hailed the bus from the wrong side of the road? And who cares if we had our money out when we got on board, even though it wasn’t required until we got off. An hour later the 20km trip was over. Most people on the bus nervously watched us to see our next move as we got off the bus, but I think we pulled it off without insulting the Lao people.