"Sleepy" Vientiane

Laos is one of the five remaining communist countries (can you name them all- answers below) but it's hard to tell as a tourist. You'd expect the capital Vientiane to be full of grim imposing architecture and giant statues, but it feels pretty restrained. There are lots of state-owned enterprises and a few hammer-and-sickle flags, but if you didn't do your homework you'd have no idea. Laos had the good grace to skip Stalinist and brutalist architecture and instead fuze French colonial with Buddhist forms.

Vientiane is the quietest southeast Asian capital, but it's a welcome cosmopolitan change from the rest of Laos. We spent most of our time enjoying good food (sushi, burgers, cheesesteaks!!!) and the rest at the obligatory capital museums, temples and monuments.

The National Museum covers the entire history of Laos, but the focus is on the communist struggle and the second Indochina war. Excellent photos, and I'm sure the Laos propaganda is great, but the English translations leave a lot to be desired. For example, Karl Marx is listed as "Katmat". Sections on archaeology are much better.

More Wats: Haw Phra Kaew and the national symbol of Laos, Pha That Luang:

The Patuxai monument commemorates those who died in the struggle for independence from France, and is appropriately taller than the Arc de Triomphe:

More unique is the Buddha Park concrete sculpture garden. Awkwardly far out and maybe not worth an hour each way by tuk-tuk, but still fascinating to explore:

The highlight was undoubtedly the COPE Museum on the tragic impact of unexploded ordinance and the efforts to educate rural communities and rehabilitate victims, but I'll be covering this extensively in our upcoming Phonsavan post.

From above: communist countries are China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

-Peter