Patuxai Monument: Vientiane - a bit "meh"

On my trip to Laos to obtain my Thai visa I was presented with a bit of a conundrum: This city is well-known for being ab it boring and featureless although quite happy and welcoming.

I had no choice but to go and look for various lists of "top things to do" while in the city and deviate from my usual trek of just having beer and food all the time. Don't get me wrong, i am perfectly happy just getting beer and food but I wanted to mix it up a bit. Enter the Patuxai Monument or "Victory Monument" in Vientiane.

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I am not trying to denigrate the meaning behind this monument so please don't think that. It is actually a very important monument that is dedicated to the people of Laos who gave their lives fighting for independence from France way back when.

It is build (quite obviously) in the same style as the Arc de Triomphe which of course, is located in Paris. I don't know if this was a "nah nanny boo boo" towards France but i enjoyed the historical significance regardless.

Construction started in 1957 and ended in 1968 and seeing as how it is big, but not like pyramid gigantic i have to ask.... "why did it take 11 years to build this?"

You can walk up to the top in order to have some nice views of the city from the top but i decided to not do this because they were charging money to do so and it was mid-day and very hot (presumably much hotter at the top in the sun.)

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I did not take these pictures because my phone was acting up and I can say this about the place: The park is really nice, kept very clean and it wasn't particularly crowded because I am here in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I just didn't find it particularly special. I hope it doesn't sound like I am being disrespectful because that is definitely not my intent. I just don't know if it is worth the trip from your HOTEL to see this monument, let alone a reason to visit the region.

All in all i would say that if you are already in Vientiane and your hotel is nearby that it might be worth a look. However, i wouldn't go out of my way to see this because it is a rather average as far as how impressive it is. I took a few photos but they were all blurry and I promise I will be getting a new phone soon to compensate for this.

I was only there for about 10 minutes and then decided to leave. There just wasn't much to it and I think if you could just a taxi tour of the city and then leave, that would be just as good as getting out of the car to look up close at this particular monument.

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Actually, i think i will get a taxi tour of the city tomorrow because I am hearing that the rest of the attraction of Vientiane are kind of in the same category.

I would normally consider this a "skipsies" but since the taxi tours cost so very little, maybe you can just do a drive by photo op instead. I think that would do the trick. I wish I had done that.