Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
Vientiane — to walk through the streets of the Laotian capital is to navigate a living museum of resilience. Here, history is not confined to dusty archives or forgotten monuments; it is etched into the very skyline. It is a landscape defined by an “Architecture of the Spirit”—a tangible record of a nation that has survived colonial impositions and regional upheavals while keeping its distinct soul remarkably intact.
Patuxai (Victory Gate) in Vientiane is a massive monument resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
PHOTOS BY OLIVER AMOROSO
The Lao Art Museum gives visitors an immersive experience into the nation’s cultural soul.
The author at the main hall of the Lao Art Museum, which pays tribute to the country’s artistic heritage.
The arrival of modern infrastructure, notably the high-speed rail LCR linking Vientiane to its northern neighbors, is a geopolitical game-changer.