a life in words: buddha park

20th - 24th January 2012

Vientiane, Laos

Arrived in the capital of Laos on the 20th of January after a short but very enjoyable stint in Vang Vieng, although it had left me a little worse for wear. It seems that beer had dragged me unscathed through the perilous dangers of tubing but it could not protect me from the stinking cold which ambushed me upon arrival in Vientiane and lingered for a few days. I rolled into town that evening just as the sun was making it's final descent in a cloudless sky accompanied by the three Aussies: Devon, Sally and Jasper. A new city and so started the familiar process of hunting down a cheap but habitable place to rest our heads. For many travelers, Vietiane is a necessary pit stop en route to southern Laos or as a base from which to embark on longer journeys to Vietnam. As far as cities go it's not the most exciting place to be but in my few days spent there I did find a little to do which I'll run through here. To bring you up to speed with my plans, I had headed to the capital intending like many to sort myself a visa for Vietnam from the embassy; unfortunately this was not be as straight forward as I thought. Due to poor timing and lack of foresight, I arrived on a friday night and was told by my hostel that the Vietnamese embassy was closed for the weekend. The following day after investigating opening times, I then found out that the Vietnamese had decided to have their New Year at the most inconvenient of times. It almost seemed as if they weren't aware that Biggles wanted to get into their country.... and as a result of their celebrations the embassy would not be open for another week. No visa, no entry; Vietnam annoyingly is the only country in this region of South East Asia that doesn't allow you to get a visa on their borders - unless you fly in. I therefore had a week to fill before I could get the all important stamp in my passport and so I spent a few days checking out Vientiane before booking a bus ticket down to Savannakhet a few days later.

On the morning of the 23rd, set off from the hostel in search of the curious Buddha park. Buddha park itself sits on the river Mekong about 27km from Vientiane. The only reason I went to see it was because of the marvelously eccentric story explaining it's existence that tickled my curiosity so much I had to go scope it out. The park houses a massive collection of concrete sculptures which were created under the direction of Luang Phu Boonlua Surirat. This self styled holy man claimed to have been the one and only disciple of a cave-dwelling Hindu hermit who lived in Vietnam and when Boonlua returned to Laos in the 1950's he put together this park of ferro-concrete sculptures. The park depicts a vast range of deities from the Hindu-Buddhist pantheon and were created so that Boonlua could spread his philosophy about life and his ideas about the cosmos. Making my way down to the local bus station, found the No.14 bus stand, hopped onto a rickety metal carriage and waited to set off. It's become apparent in Laos that no timetables really exist for the buses as it seems that a bus will only leave when it has enough people on board to make the journey worthwhile. I therefore waited patiently on the back seat as people gradually trickled on before finally having enough to leave. Fifteen minutes later and with a reasonably full bus we lurched out of the station setting off into the countryside surrounding Vientiane. As we got further away from the city, the condition of the road gradually descended from unbroken tarmac to dusty roads which were littered with crater-like potholes. Navigating these bumpy highways we finally pulled up to the entrance of Buddha park about an hour later. The park itself was every bit as strange and surreal as the history surrounding it and I was greeted by a giant concrete head whose mouth served as a doorway into a multi-level giant urn containing sword wielding gods and the snarling faces of various Hindu deities. The riverside field was littered with surreal statues such as three headed war elephants and plump giggling buddhas. Near the end of a park a giant and sinister Buddha head rested on the ground whose body had been replaced by a giant serpents body. A dual-tail whipped up behind this terrifying deity presenting a concrete orb to the sky. Walking around, rows upon rows of multi-limbed Hindu deities lined the park; each arm brandishing swords, axes, maces and other weapons of death. An hour or so was enough to see all the statues, walking back to the main road and flagging down a passing bus to get back into the city.