Starting out

I've been taking pictures and uploading them to a variety of blogs but I suddenly realized that there's a whole collection of blogs focusing on cities around the world. I decided that it was time to put Vientiane on the map.

Vientiane is the capital city of Lao PDR (which stands for People's Democratic Republic). Many people pronounce the name 'Vi-en-tee-en;' however, the Lao pronounce their city 'Vieng-chan.' The name means 'City of Sandalwood,' although Chan can also refer to the moon and many people believe it means 'Beautiful Moon City.'

Lao people call their country Meuang Lao or more formally, Prathet Lao. The French renamed the country Laos, which the Lao can not pronounce easily as there is no final s sound in Lao and Thai languages. To confound matters, the adjective form of Laos because Laotian, which Lao people don't ever use (except in English language lessons). The adjective form is Lao. However, most people, Lao included, use the word Laos to talk about their country.

Here's the Lao map, which shows Vientiane, on the Mekong River. Directly across the river is the Thai city of Sri Chiang Mai. 20 miles to the east is Nong Khai. With the opening of the Friendship Bridge, it's very easy to take day trips to Nong Khai for sight-seeing and shopping. I often meet my neighbors over there on the weekends.

From Vientiane

From Vientiane

This is my first photo - Wat Meuang Wa, which is near the airport. It's one of the older temples in this area of the city. The old community hall was a beautiful old teak building, which finally had to be rebuilt because of termites. There are now two dormitories for the monks and the new concrete building to the right of the picture is offices and classrooms. An old concrete building housing the main Buddha image is in the process of being rebuilt.

I hope that many people will stop here sometime to see my photos of one of the most beautiful and laid back cities in Asia. I also hope posting photos every day will help me to look up the histories of spots that I pass by every day.