Vientiane II

So I forgot to tell you what I saw in Vientiane, because I was so busy bitching about their bus system.  Well, I went to Buddha Park, which is yet another art project, just like the White Temple and the Black House.

This time it appears to be regarding themes of Buddhist heaven and hell, with macabre and trippy statues set around a grassy field.  You can take a city bus there; you don't have to pay for a tour (sorry, I forget which number bus, but Lonely Planet knows).  Just take a look at this stuff.

There's one exhibit (yes, made of ceramic) where you can go inside and there are 5 levels--the lowest being hell, and the highest being an arial view of the park (enlightenment).  I don't understand Buddhist traditions well enough to explain all the imagery, but it's certainly interesting.  The stairs became appropriately challenging to climb the higher up you went.  Nice view, though.

From the lowest reaches of hell...

...to enlightenment.

Also, these images are apparently iconic:

I had time to kill when I got back, so I visited this iconic temple (no pics allowed of the interior, sorry) when it started to rain, and then Independence Monument.  That's it.

This cat has an interesting story.  I took shelter along the sides of the temple above as it began to pour rain.  I noticed this tortoiseshell cat stood up and started yowling into the rain.  A girl standing next to me darted out into the downpour, went over to a drainage grate, reached in, and pulled out a little half-drowned kitten.  She set it by the mother cat, and for some reason the kitten came over to me.  So I dried him off and put him back with the mom.  This is their picture.

Independence Monument.

This is what it looks like inside.

The president seems to be a pretty cool guy.