"Wat" a Day This Has Been

We have not even come close to seeing all the Wats(Buddhist Temples) in the area of Luang Prabang. Many of the wats we have visited are beautiful and serene, but vary in detail and design, location and proximity. They included Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Tham Phousi and Wat Phra Nua.

We have walked, hiked up steps and ridden our bicycles from one Wat to another.

We also visited the National Palace Museum, built for King Sisang Vong from 1904 to 1909. It has its own Wat, as do many palaces and presidential buildings. This "complex", now refurbished and adorned with authentic and gorgeaous pieces (including gifts given to the king from all different countries), was the royal residence until the Pathet Lao seized control of the country in 1975. The last Lao King, Sisan Vattana, and his family were exiled to a remote part of the coutnry and never heard from again.