Vientiane

Vientiane, Laos

Wat Sisaket temple courtyard at sunrise with gold-leafed roofs and seated Buddha statues.

Go for gilded temples, a lively riverside and a surprisingly varied food scene in a capital that is changing quickly.

The place

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and its largest city, with about one million people in the urban area. It sits on the left bank of the Mekong, a short distance from the Thai border, and it has been the country's administrative centre since the sixteenth century. The riverfront is the city's gentler side. In the late afternoon the promenade fills with joggers and families, while the bamboo-and-thatch beer gardens that once lined the shore upstream have largely given way to a flood-levee and riverside park.

Elsewhere the growth is harder to miss. The city has expanded fast over the past two decades, and a wave of investment has left strip malls, jammed roads and half-finished concrete blocks beside the old French villas of the centre. Power cables loop between buildings, and some streets feel like building sites. Traffic, more than crowds, is the daily frustration, so the sensible approach is to plan around rush hour and keep appointments close together.

The religious landmarks remain the main reason many people come. Pha That Luang, a gilded stupa, is the country's best-known monument. Haw Phra Kaew, which once housed the Emerald Buddha, is now a museum. Smaller temples, including Wat Sisaket, are quieter and easy to reach on foot from the centre. The city is best treated slowly, with long lunches, good Lao and Chinese cooking, and an afternoon by the river.

Its story

The area around Vientiane was part of a web of early Mon city states that spread up the Mekong and Chao Phraya valleys from the 6th century onwards. By the 8th century, Mon settlements had pushed north and one of them, a centre known as Chantaburi, was counted among the early states that shared a common culture and a Theravada Buddhist faith. These states were loosely connected rather than unified, and their influence on religion and writing lasted well beyond their political reach.

The name Vientiane appears in a Vietnamese inscription from 1159, written during a period of conflict between the Khmer and the Viet. That early reference shows the place was already known to its neighbours long before it became a royal seat. Vientiane became an administrative city of Lan Xang when Fa Ngum founded the kingdom in 1354, and King Setthathirath officially made it the capital in 1563.

The French period changed the city again. Under colonial rule Vientiane became the administrative capital, and it gained the boulevards, government buildings and villas that still line parts of the centre. The French influence can be seen in the layout of streets around the old town. After independence and the long political upheaval that followed, the city was reshaped by its role as the national capital, and its present skyline reflects a rapid, uneven recent expansion.

What to see

Culture

Vientiane is a Buddhist city, and temples remain at the centre of daily life. Monks walk the streets in the early morning to collect alms, and many families make merit at temples at weekends and on religious days. The city is also the seat of national media, with the headquarters of Lao National Television and Lao National Radio, so the public voice of the country is shaped here. Hospitality is warm and unhurried. People rarely raise their voices in public, and a calm manner works better than frustration when something goes wrong. Lao people greet with a small palms-together gesture, and returning it is a kind response even if the details are unfamiliar. Ask permission before photographing monks, novices or people at ceremonies, and avoid touching a monk or passing him objects directly. Remove your shoes before stepping onto a temple's raised floor, and cover your shoulders and knees before you go in.

What to wear

Vientiane's traditional dress is closely tied to the wider Lao world, where the sinh, a wrap skirt woven in bands of colour and pattern, is the classic women's garment. Silk and cotton are the main textiles, and villages in the region still weave with floor looms, producing pieces with woven patterns that mark family and place. A pha biang, or shawl, is often worn with the sinh on formal occasions and at festivals.

In daily life, people in the city wear Western-style clothes: jeans, t-shirts, office trousers and shirts. Younger residents dress casually, while many older women and civil servants keep to modest styles. The sinh survives at weddings, temple ceremonies and official events, and it is worn with pride rather than as costume.

A visitor should dress for heat and for temples. Light cotton or linen shirts and loose trousers or knee-length skirts work well for the climate, and shoulders and knees should be covered when entering any temple. Choose sandals or shoes that slip off easily, because you will remove them often, and sturdy closed shoes for uneven pavements and the riverside paths. A hat and sunglasses are useful in the dry months.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. November to February, when the air is cooler and the skies are mostly dry; March and April are hot, and May to October is the rainy season, when storms often arrive in the afternoon and the riverside can be damp.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Wattay International Airport has direct flights from many cities in Asia, and some visitors fly to Udon Thani in Thailand and cross the border at Nong Khai by bus or shuttle, which can be cheaper than a direct flight.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources