Laos World Heritage List
A brief country-by-country rundown of Southeast Asia’s various UNESCO Sites, beginning, for no particular reason, with the list of Laos World Heritage sites. It is an easy one to start with since the small, land-locked and sparsely populated nation has the grand total of 3 sites. Having said that, a scan through the UNESCO list, (which does seem somewhat Euro-centric), brings up a few spurious or surprising entries that could be considered stretching a point, whilst Lao’s listings are, in our opinion, indisputable shoo-ins. We’ll also mention a couple more Lao sites that we reckon could be deserving of future inclusion as well.
Wat Xiengthong, Luang Prabang Luang Prabang
The northern Lao city and former capital of Luang Prabang has been the lucky recipient of World Heritage status for 20 years already (since 1995), due to the town’s spectacular combination of ancient Lao (temple and French colonial period architecture and its exemplary state of preservation. Situated on a narrow tongue of land surrounded on 3 sides by the Khan and Mekong Rivers has meant that the old town has remained largely intact and UNESCO’s early intervention, before more recent investment, could lead to the modern development that other Lao towns have seen, was highly fortuitous.
Preservation plans were consequently in place before the arrival of mass tourism and foreign investment. All new development has thus taken place away from the old centre, which with its lovingly restored old villas, narrow lanes winding between ancient temples and strategically placed riverside cafes is an absolute delight to explore. Certainly one of the best-preserved old towns of Southeast Asia and we’re yet to meet a visitor who didn’t fall under its charm.
Back street of Luang Prabang Wat Phu
Lao’s 2nd site is right at the other end of the country, being situated in Champassak province in the far south, and of an entirely different nature. Wat Phu is an ancient, Angkor period temple complex so an excellent contrast and complement to the former listing. The Wat Phu site consists of the main temple itself, dramatically situated on a mountain slope overlooking the Mekong Valley, adjacent temples including Nang Sida and Huay Tomo and the nearby riverbank site of an ancient city dating to the 5th-6th centuries. Indeed, while much of what you can see today at Wat Phu dates to the early 11th century and the reign of Suryavarman I, this is the oldest Khmer city yet discovered and it was from here that the early kings Bhavavarman and Mahendravarman set out to expand their empire into what is now modern Cambodia during the 2nd half of the 6th century. Despite being situated in what is today Laos, the site can be considered the cradle of Khmer civilisation.
The area of Wat Phu appears to have been inhabited for the best part of 2,000 years and was possibly a largely Cham province of the Funan empire until the mid-6th century. For a brief period it became the northern capital of the Khmer-dominated Chenla kingdom until the establishment of the new capital of Ishnapura at today’s Sambor Prei Kuk and was to remain a highly prestigious religious centre and pilgrimage destination during the entire Angkor period.
Wat Phu looking north A spectacularly situated and relatively well-preserved site but also of immense historical importance and again, another site where visits are guaranteed not to disappoint.
The Plain of Jars
A third site, also of an entirely different nature, is the famous Plain of Jars site in the northeastern part of the country, added to the Laos World Heritage Sites list as recently as 2019. These mysterious giant stone jar sites scattered across a remote plain along with associated menhirs have withstood some 2,000 years of time (not least B52 carpet bombing during the US secret war in Laos), and were certainly due a bit of TLC – and funding – at last. Access to the remote site has not improved, however, and was further hindered by the closure of nearby Phonsavan airport for a year or so for upgrades. (Work is now completed but apart from the flight, it is still a full day’s drive from Luang Prabang on a far from great road.)
Sunset over site 1, Plain of Jars Laos Tentative List
Another entry on the UNESCO tentative Laos World Heritage Sites list is Vientiane’s iconic That Luang Temple. Perhaps not as obvious a choice as the famous jars or Wat Phu but certainly a spectacular, well-preserved 16th-century temple so…why not? A couple more possibilities could be the superb landscapes and associated colonial period sites of the 4,000 Islands region along the Cambodian border and, why not the still relatively well preserved, (but for how long?), old French period Mekong port architecture of Thakaek and Savannakhet which show perhaps more potential showcase possibilities than similar towns in Cambodia or Vietnam?
That Luang, Vientiane Note Luang Prabang and The Plain of Jars feature on our northern Laos, Laos and Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia tours while Wat Phu is included in our itineraries heading to the south of the country, Far North to Far South and Mekong Adventure as well as the Thailand and Laos tour Emerald Triangle.
