This park on the outskirts of Vientiane, on the Mekong River, contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist sculptures placed there in 1958 by a priest-shaman who wished to integrate the two religions--plus, I gather, some elements of shamanism as well, since so many of the statues involve human skulls.
Now, the Buddha Park a bizarre and very expensive, even by American standards, attraction where foreign tourist wander, gawking at the rotting concrete of the unmarked statues. I was left thinking how much the park would have improved the look of Vientiane were its contents allowed to become public art, as in the streets of Europe.
As it is, this place lends itself to the kind of photos that later get compiled into those mysterious slideshows where you're supposed to guess what in the world (and where in the world) the image is. So, the next time you see a concrete sleeping Buddha head against a bright blue sky...
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