Ever since I moved to Thailand, I wanted to visit the country of our land-locked neighbor to the north. Personally, I think it's important to not only know about one's country of residence but its neighbors. I finally had the chance to visit Laos during our school's fall break.
I had no idea how much French influence still remains in current-day Vientiane, the captial of Laos. The city eventually fell under French rule in 1893 after a bloody history, particularly between southeastern countries of Burma and Siam (Thailand). In fact, the current spelling of the city name
Vientiane was mandated by the French because they had a difficult time pronouncing the hard 'ch' sound in the Lao version of the city name
Viang chan.
The French invested a lot of time and money to rebuild the city and repair the temples, and consequently left many colonial buildings behind after their rule ended in 1953. This building is the
Presidential Palace that overlooks the
Mekong River.
French influence in the region is evident when visiting sites such as the
Pataxai War Monument, dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France.
Pataxai means "Gate of Triumph" and is also known as the
Arc de Triomphe of Vientiane because it resembles the
Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a monument to those who fought for France in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. Vientiane's monument is located at the end of the
Lang Xang parkway in the heart of Vientiane.
Even though it resembles the
Arc de Triomphe, it is very much Laotian in design, decorated with mythological creatures on its towers and having gates facing in each direction with accompanying reflection pond.
At the other end of the city behind this vendor's cart of baskets is a statue of the Lao Kingdom's last monarch, the
King Anouvong statue. This king is credited for influencing the Thai king Rama III
not to amalgamate Laotian territory with its own, even though Anouvong technically lost the war to Thailand in the early 1800s. I guess history has a way of 'going easy' on predecessors for the sake of national pride!
Visitors will find that most statues in Asia, whether religious in nature or of honorary figures, provide a place for people to pray in front. This is to allow the visitor opportunity to invoke the spirit of the one before them and is based on the belief that the dead have a continued existence that may influence the fortune of the living. In reality, this is not much different than the Catholic practice of calling on the saints to intercede with God, which evangelical Christians refute as misguided knowing we have direct access to God through prayer!
Whether remembering the influence of the French or digging deeper to its autonomous roots, Vientiane has some beautiful reminders of its country's heritage.
