Last Minute Visits - Haw Pha Kaeo

As I prepare to leave Laos I am visiting places that " I have meant to visit, but haven't quite made it".

The first of these was Haw Pha Kaeo.  I ride past the temple every time I come back from the downtown area, but have not stopped to look at the temple.  It has had a recent renovation so looks shiny and new, but in fact dates back to 1565 when I temple was first built on the location to house the Emerald Buddha.

The Emerald Buddha is a very small Buddha statue, now in a temple in the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

The temple was destroyed by the Thais in 1779 ( the year Captain Cook met his demise in Hawaii), and the statue taken to Bangkok. The current temple was rebuilt by the French between 1936 - 1942).