Today was a very hot day and we spent much of it looking at four of the most visited tourist sites (or sights) by a tuk-tuk, which here, is more commonly known by the name Jumbo.

A Jumbo is pretty big, and it is a lot more comfortable than a tuk-tuk: tuk-tuks, have one row facing forward, while Jumbos have bench seats in what looks like the back of a small pick-up truck.

Sights at Sites: We went to four sites: the Ho Phra Keo Museum, the Sisaket Museum, the Phra That Laung Museum, and the Patuxai Arch. The ones that I will focus on are the Ho Phra Keo Museum and the Pha That Laung Museum.

The Ho Phra Keo Museum was a temple that held the Emerald Buddha after taking it from Chiang Mai, but then Siamese (Thai) people came and took it back to Siam (Thailand) and now the Buddha resides in Wat Phra Keo, Bangkok. The temple, however, due to the Siamese forces razing Vientiane thrice, has had to be rebuilt three times, the last being in the 1920’s.

The Pha That Laung Museum is the Great Stupa, the symbol of the Lao people and the most important monument in Laos. It has been moved and reconstructed (faultily) and then reconstructed correctly in the 1930’s.