Thailand – Laos Travel: Day 13 – Part 2 – The Only Mosque in Vientiane & Wat Inpeng

Continued from Thailand – Laos Travel: Day 13 – Part 1 – Vientiane, Lao National Culture Hall & Lao National Museum. For pre-travel, please refer here.

From the Lao Cultural Museum, we set foot on the Jamia Mosque. Usually, there will be halal restaurants or stalls around the mosque, that’s what we thought.

When we arrived here, our guess was 100% wrong. Absolutely nothing around. There is only a mosque. For readers, do not look for halal restaurants or shops here.

As a result of being tired and still lethargic, we hung out here for a while and viewed the inside.

My face was a bit grumbling from walking here and there without a destination coupled with my unstable health.

In the end, we plan to dine again at a Dhaka restaurant. If possible, I want to avoid going there because the price is quite expensive, but we have no choice.

Halal restaurants in Vientiane are very hard to find …

We chose packet 12 because it doesn’t look spicy and is suitable to eat with children. A plate of rice is also provided for this packet. The price is 120,000 kips equivalent to MYR58.00.

While writing this blog post, I was shocked. We walked from the Lao Cultural Museum to the Dhaka Restaurant for 5.8km !! I know the reason… because I still have a phobia with tuktuk and want to avoid riding it, worried about getting scammed like yesterday.

After eating, we hovered outside the restaurant while thinking about the nearest tourist destination here. Supposedly, this is the last destination for today and we want to go back to the hotel and relax.

After searching in the GPS, we plan to head to Wat Inpeng as it is listed as the top 10 in Tripadvisor.

On the side of the restaurant, there is a tuktuk group. I approached to ask about the fare to Wat Inpeng. This time, I took out the phone, opened the calculator app and typed 20,000 because he said the fare for all of us was 20,000 kip. He nodded the correct sign of the number I input.

Because he is fluent in English, I repeatedly told him about yesterday’s scam. He said, there is no need to worry and promise that what is said is the price.

When we arrived at Wat Inpeng, it turned out to be true what he said. Then we went inside.

This Wat is just like the other wats. The notable difference I found here is the extensive use of red color.

The history of Wat Inpeng dates back to the 16th century when the king ordered the construction of a new Wat for their new capital of Vientiane.

When looking up, you will see an unusual arrangement of decorations on the ceiling. This is truly an amazing work of art.

Due to its long age, it represents the background art of the life and history of Laos since the 16th century. However, it is not known why it receives such a small number of tourists each year.

For more than 150 years, Wat Inpeng has stood as a large structure used for worship and as a home for Buddhists. Until 1827, it was all over. The king at that time rebelled against the invading Siamese army. As a result, the Siamese army destroyed the city, destroying the temple at the same time.

Over the years it has been rebuilt or renovated in several phases. The latest was by a Frenchman in the 1930s who rebuilt the structure.

The gate to enter Wat Inpeng. At first, we entered from the back door.

Photograph the memories in front of Wat Inpeng before returning to the hotel.