The Best of Cambodia & Laos

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LUANG PRABANG LUANG PRABANG & NORTHERN LAOS
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made by the local artisan Thit Tanh. Covering the walls are murals depicting traditional
Lao scenes, painted by French artist Alex de Fauntereau in 1930. These were placed so
that at the right time of day natural light falls on a corresponding depiction of the same
time of day in the painting highlighted.
In the right front corner room of the Palace (you access it from the outside entrance)
are many of the museum’s top attractions including a replica of a golden standing Buddha
that was a gift to King Fa Ngum from Khmer king Phaya Sirichantha in 1359. This
is the Phra Bang from which the town takes its name. It translates as “holy image” and
the original was cast in Sri Lanka in the 1st century a.d. Twice the Siamese stole the
Buddha image—once in 1779 and again in 1827. King Mongkut returned it in 1867.
This room also has on display another Buddha image engraved with large elephant tusks
and three embroidered silk screens made by the queen herself.
To the left of the entrance hall, the secretary’s reception room is filled with a variety
of paintings, china, and silver presented to Laos as diplomatic presents from countries
the world over. These objects are, quite bizarrely, grouped by their origin—either capitalist
or socialist.
What was the queen’s reception room is next on the left. There are huge royal portraits
of King Savang Vatthana, Queen Khamphoui, and Crown Prince Vong. They were
painted by the Russian artist Ilya Glazunov in 1967.
The central throne room is decorated with colorful glass mosaics dating from a renovation
in the 1930s. After the throne rooms is a compound of not very lavish bedrooms
containing what little finery was left after the last king was evicted in 1975. The bedrooms
have been preserved as they were in 1975 when the king departed. There is a
dining hall and a room that contain royal seals and medals. There is a wedding cake–like
temple at the compound entrance and a large, obviously Soviet-made, statue of Sisavang
Vong, the first king under the Lao constitution.
Sisavangvong Rd. Admission 30,000 kip. Daily 8–11am and 1:30–4pm. Informal dress is not allowed. You
cannot wear skimpy shorts or have your shoulders exposed.
The Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC) This museum is a
fantastic place to learn about the various ethnic minorities of Laos. The modest-size
center is housed in the 1920s former residence of a French colonial judge. Staff is
extremely friendly and can answer any questions you have. The handful of exhibits are
well curated, displaying traditional clothing, weaving looms, and household wares.
Accompanying explanations are in Lao and English. Entry fees and donations go directly
toward running TAEC and promoting cultural diversity and preservation. There’s a
small shop in the back selling textiles and housewares purchased directly from artisan
communities.
Photisarath Rd. & 071/253-364. www.taeclaos.org. Admission 20,000 kip. Tues–Sun 9am–6pm.
Wat Aham This is the “Monastery of the Opened Heart” (Le Monastère du Coeur
épanoui) and stands between Wat Wisunarat and the Nam Khan River. It has a somewhat
contentious past as it served as a mediating, or perhaps meeting, ground between
the animist religion of spirit guardians and Theravada Buddhism. Stylized stucco tigers
guard the front entry steps, and statues of temple guardians Ravana and Hanuman (central
figures of the Indian Ramayana epic and its Laotian counterpart, the Phalak Phalam)
stand at the southern and eastern corners of the frontal porch. There are a number of
stupas in the grounds as well as two large and quite large bodhi (banyan or Bo), trees