An alternative to big-ticket Asian attractions like Angkor Wat, Buddha Park hovers hypnotically just outside Lao PDR’s capital, Vientiane. Far more than a theme park, Buddha Park, or Xieng Khuan ('Spirit City'), rips up the rulebook. Many expats in Thailand or tubing enthusiasts on their way through Vientiane from Van Vieng limit their Vientiane experience to drinking Beerlao by the Mekong or eating baguettes in cafes or shopping at Talat Sao. In addition to all the obvious attractions of the capital – such as the towering Patouxai (the city's Arc de Triomphe) or Wat Si Saket – there's a place slightly off the beaten track, both physically and figuratively. It's a place called Buddha Park.
Monster mash-up
A spectacular menagerie with an Alice in Wonderland vibe, Buddha Park contains statues of snakes, crocodiles, giant crickets, elephants, smiley skulls, snarling demons, and gargoyles. One highlight – a 40-metre-long cracked and blackened reclining Buddha – sprawls with his head propped on one elbow, looking askance at the spectator.
Mega veg
Another highlight, a bizarre giant pumpkin with a leafless tree sprouting from the top, contains three storeys representing three cosmic levels: Hell, Earth and Heaven. After entering the spherical oddity through the mouth of a goggle-eyed demon, you climb a staircase that takes you on a journey from damnation to grace.
At the summit, you are afforded great views of the whole park, which is a shutterbug magnet offering copious photo-ops. Prowl around and you are bound to get at least one good shot of the cement gods and monsters on show.
Super seer
Buddha Park hosts over 200 sculptures that look centuries old but only date back to 1958. Designed and built by priest-shaman Luang Pu (Venerable Grandfather) Bunleua Sulilat, the statues exuberantly fuse the influences of Hinduism with Buddhism. The result is superb.
Bad dream
But, after the 1975 Communist revolution, rattled by the threat of being damned as a bourgeois arty type, Luang Pu fled to Thailand. There, just over the border in Nong Khai he built an equally extravagant sculpture garden, Sala Keoku.
Legacy
Evidently, Luang Pu was obsessed. Just as well. Without his ingenious input, his corner of Southeast Asia would be distinctly less intriguing.
Travel tips:
Buddha Park stands 25 kilometres southeast of Vientiane, Laos in a meadow beside the Mekong River. Admission is 5000 Kip (less than a dollar). You can get to the park on the 14 bus, which goes from the downtown bus station. The bus, which takes you past the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, takes about 45 minutes and costs 5,000 kip per person each way. A tuk-tuk taxi is quicker but much more expensive. However you get there, bring hat and sunscreen because the park offers little shade and this part of Vientiane can be relentlessly hot.
No comments:
Post a Comment