Vientiane reports heritage visits

The top three historical attractions in the Lao capital, That Luang, Hor Phra Keo and Sisaket Museum, attracted over 300,000 visitors January to June.
The Vientiane Capital Museum deputy director, Phouvieng Phothisane, told local media that 254,023 of the visitors were foreigners.
No mention was made of how the six month performance compared with visits last year.
Separately, That Luang recorded 116,700, Hor Phra Keo 107,000 and Sisaket Museum 42,873 visitors.
Europe, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, and China were identified as the top source markets.
That Luang is a gold-covered Buddhist stupa in the centre of Vientiane. Believed to have been built in the third century, the stupa has since undergone several modifications the most recent in the 1930s. It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos.
Hor Phra Keo is a former temple in Vientiane which was originally constructed in 1565 as the personal chapel for the royal family, and was the home of the Emerald Buddha after it was brought there from northern Siam (Thailand), which was part of the Lanna kingdom at the time.
The sacred jade statue was taken by a Siamese army in 1778 and now resides in Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. The temple in Vientiane is now just a museum.
Sisaket Museum is made up of a crumbling temple and monastery compound across the road from Hor Phra Keo. Built in 1818 by King Anu, the temple survived the destruction of the city by Siamese invaders in 1828. The monastery stands intact in its original form, and is one of the most frequented in the city.
Inside the main compound of the courtyard there are hundreds of niches and shelves displaying 6,840 Buddha statues. The paintings that once covered its interior walls have largely been destroyed by the ravages of time, but the intricately carved wooden ceiling and doors are still intact. There is also an intriguing wooden library that stores palm-leaf manuscripts.

Sourced: ttrweekly