Wednesday was our last day in Luang Prabang, and we had an evening flight (yes, on Laos Airlines) to Vientiane, the modern capital of Laos. We had a leisurely start to the day and went to see some of the other major wats in LP. 
First up was Wat Mai (May), down the main road from our hotel, just past the Royal Palace Museum. The relief carvings at Wat Mai are truly outstanding – from the daily life to the religious stories, everything is captured in the carvings on the building. Inside, the Buddha statues were very impressive, as well – including an emerald-looking Buddha.
Next up was the Laos Arts and Ethnology Center. This was a pretty small facility, but the exhibition was outstanding. There was much more explanation in the stories than at the ethnology museum in Hanoi. This was a highly informative stop, so if you’re in LP, we definitely recommend a few minutes at the LAEC. After we finished the tour, we walked over to Wat Visunnarat, home of the watermelon stupa. I’m not sure of the comparison, but it was a neat little wat with some great views of the top of Mt Phousi.
We had lunch at the Blue Lagoon Café – solid French/Lao food, though a bit over-priced for the region. Just as we were pondering our afternoon plans, the heavens opened up and it poured for a solid 30 minutes. Eventually the rain tapered off into a light drizzle, so we decided to brave it and head over to Wat Mahathat (or Wat That on some maps). This wat’s main entrance was completely decked out with painted relief – truly beautiful. We’re a little worried about being templed-out since we have a day in Vientiane and then three days in Siem Reap coming up, but everything we saw in LP really was outstanding.
Our flight to Vientiane was delayed by a couple of hours, and there really isn’t anything in the LP airport, but we stuck it out and eventually we took off – no problems once again (our last flight on Laos airlines) and we were in Vientiane in 40 minutes.
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