Vientiane: A few thats and wats

That Luang

That Luang is, like Patuxai, one of the Symbols of Laos.  The focal point of a sprawling complex of buildings is a giant golden (originally gold leaf but after a couple of sackings of Vientiane by the Thais now gold paint...it was getting expensive to maintain...) that surrounded by a cloister.  The that complex also contains a couple of temples, accommodation for many monks, and smaller that to the Unknown Soldier, all set in peaceful grounds.  There is lots of concrete guarding the staircases, eaves and any other spare area in need of decoration!

Wat Ho Phra Keo

Wat Ho Phra Keo is one of the oldest wats in Laos: it's where the Emerald Buddha was seized by the dastardly Thais one one of their sacking raids (the Thais apparently promised to return the EB when Vientiane was "safe" - the only known threat was the Thais, so it's probably no surprise that the EB remains in Bangkok).  

The wat is a stately old building set in peaceful grounds just next door to the Presidential Palace supercomplex and used mainly as a museum for sculptures of the Buddha (there's also a small shrine still).  One of these sculptures,  commissioned by the French in the early C20th, shows the Buddha seated western style, on a chair, rather than cross legged.  Seated like that, Buddha appears seems to have oddly feminine hips!

There are some very delicately carved tree trunks in the grounds of Wat Ho Phra Keo - it's unclear why they're there, they're sort of tucked away round the back, almost out of sight.

Wat Sisakhet outside and the inner cloister

Wat Sisaket is opposite Wat Ho Phra Keo: it is remarkable for the very old and beautiful paintings remaining on the walls inside the main wat building and for the large numbers of statues of the Buddha in niches and on shelves in the cloister circling the wat.

That Dam (the black that) is one of the oldest stupas in Vientiane.  It's a prime example of how the Lao like to apply concrete to anything and everything - there's a brick layer under the rotting outer facade.  It's tucked away in a cul de sac and is most useful as a navigational point.