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Best Places to Eat Best Places to Sleep When to Go Why ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Laos% POP 6.9 MILLION / 856 Includes ¨ Why Go? Vientiane .......... 289 The ‘Land of a Million Elephants’ oozes magic the moment Vang Vieng ......... 309 you spot a Hmong tribeswoman looming from the mist, Luang Prabang ......315 trek through a glimmering rice paddy, or hear the sonorous Phonsavan ........ 326 call of one of the country’s endangered gibbons. It’s a place where it’s easy to make a quick detour and find yourself well Plain of Jars ....... 332 and truly off the traveller circuit: the snaking Mekong Riv- Nong Khiaw ........ 336 er runs through it all, alongside jagged limestone cliffs and Luang Namtha ..... 342 brooding jungle. But it’s also a place to luxuriate, pampering Si Phan Don (Four yourself like a French colonial in a spa, or chilling under a Thousand Islands) ...379 wood-blade fan in a top-notch Gallic restaurant. Old-world Bolaven Plateau refinement is found in pockets right across the country, es- Region ............ 385 pecially in languid Vientiane and legendary Luang Prabang. Laos has also adapted itself well to green tourism, har- nessing forests with excellent treks and tribal homestays. Be it flying along mountain ziplines, tubing, exploring sub- terranean caves or traversing the jungle via dirt-bike, Laos Best Places to Eat will indelibly burn itself into your memory. ¨ Coconut Garden (p323) ¨ Four Thousand Sunsets (p383) When to Go ¨ Le Silapa (p298) Vientiane ¨ Tamarind (p324) °C/°F Te mp Rainfall inches/mm 24/600 ¨ Kung’s Cafe Lao (p298) 40/104 30/86 16/400 Best Places to 20/68 8/200 Sleep 10/50 ¨ Hotel Khamvongsa (p294) 0/32 0 J FDM A M J J A S O N ¨ Kingfisher Ecolodge (p378) Jan Cool-season Oct Mercifully Nov–Dec Cool ¨ Mandala Ou Resort (p337) breezes: even the cool weather. Bun weather; best normally swelter- Awk Phansa sees time to visit. Book ¨ Riverside Boutique Resort ing south is pleas- candle-bearing accommodation in (p313) antly bearable. boats floated advance. ¨ Satri House (p323) down rivers. 289 VIENTIANE oPatuxai MONUMENT ( , Victory Monument; Map p292; Th Lan From its sleepy tuk-tuk drivers to its cafe so- ປະຕູໄຊ Xang; 3000K; h8am-5pm) Vientiane’s Arc de ciety and affordable spas, this former French Triomphe replica is a slightly incongruous trading post is languid to say the least. Em- sight, dominating the commercial district inently walkable, the historic old quarter of around Th Lan Xang. Officially called ‘Vic- Vientiane ( ) beguiles with glittering ວຽງຈັນ tory Monument’ and commemorating the temples, lunging naga (river serpent) statues, Lao who died in prerevolutionary wars, it wandering Buddhist monks, and boulevards was built in 1969 with cement donated by the lined with frangipani and tamarind. USA intended for the construction of a new Meanwhile, with most of its old French airport. Climb to the summit for panoramic villas now stylishly reincarnated into restau- views over Vientiane. rants and small hotels, Vientiane is achieving an unprecedented level of panache with a oPha That Luang BUDDHIST STUPA distinctly Gallic flavour. For the well-heeled (ພະທາດຫລວງ, Great Sacred Reliquary, Great Stu- traveller and backpacker the city acquits it- pa; Map p292; Th That Luang; 5000K, rental of long self equally well, be it with low-cost digs and skirt to enter temple 5000K; h8am-noon & 1-4pm street markets, or upscale boutique accom- Tue-Sun) Svelte and golden Pha That Luang LAOS modation and gastronomic eateries. is the most important national monument Whether you spend your time in Vientiane in Laos; a symbol of Buddhist religion and V lounging over a novel in an old-fashioned Lao sovereignty. Legend has it that Asho- ientiane bakery, shopping in silk shops or swigging kan missionaries from India erected a tâht Beerlao while drinking up the fiery sunset (stupa) here to enclose a piece of Buddha’s over the Mekong, once you leave you’ll miss breastbone as early as the 3rd century BC. this place more than you expected. Pha That Luang is about 4km northeast of the city centre. 1 Sights Xieng Khuan MUSEUM The bulk of sights are concentrated in a ( , Suan Phut, Buddha Park; 5000K, camera small area in the centre of the city. With the ຊຽງຂວັນ 3000K; h8am-4.30pm) Located 25km south- exception of Xieng Khuan (Buddha Park), all east of central Vientiane, eccentric Xieng sights are easily reached by bicycle and, in Khuan, aka Buddha Park, thrills with other- most cases, on foot. Most wats welcome vis- worldly Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, and itors after the monks have collected alms in was designed and built in 1958 by Luang Pu, the morning until about 6pm. a yogi-priest-shaman who merged Hindu Wat Si Saket BUDDHIST TEMPLE and Buddhist philosophy, mythology and (ວັດສີສະເກດ; Map p296; cnr Th Lan Xang & Th iconography into a cryptic whole. Bus 14 Setthathirath; 5000K; h8am-noon & 1-4pm, closed (8000K, one hour, 24km) leaves Talat Sao public holidays) Built between 1819 and 1824 Bus Station every 15 minutes for Xieng by Chao Anou, Wat Si Saket is believed to Khuan. Alternatively, charter a tuk-tuk be Vientiane’s oldest surviving wat. And it is (200,000K return). starting to show, as this beautiful temple is Wat Chanthabuli BUDDHIST TEMPLE in need of a facelift. Along the western side (Map p296; Th Fa Ngoum) This beautiful riverside of the cloister is a pile of Buddhas that were wat was built in the 16th century, destroyed damaged during the 1828 Siamese-Lao war. during the Siamese invasion of 1828 and later oCOPE Visitor Centre CULTURAL CENTRE fully restored to its present glory. It’s notable (ສູນຟື້ນຟູຄົນພິການແຫ່ງຊາດ; Map p292; %021- for its enormous bronze seated Buddha. 218427; www.copelaos.org; Th Khu Vieng; donations welcome; h9am-6pm) F COPE (Coopera- 2 Activities & Courses tive Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise) is the Coffee main source of artificial limbs, walking aids Sinouk Coffee Pavilion COFFEE and wheelchairs in Laos. Its excellent Visitor (%030-2000654; www.sinouk-cafe.com; Km 9, Th Centre, part of the organisation’s National Tha Deua; h8am-5pm) Located at the head- Rehabilitation Centre, offers myriad inter- quarters of Sinouk Coffee, one of Laos’ best- esting and informative multimedia exhibits known coffee producers, this is an education about prosthetics and the unexploded ord- in the bean. Learn more about the art of nance (UXO) that make them necessary. coffee production at the coffee gallery and .
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