if you travel to Turkey and decide to go to Cappadocia make sure you visit the historical open air Museum including the best preserved and amazing Cappadocia churches.
Amazing Cappadocia churches
Exploring Lao art Museum
if you visit Vientiane, Laos, there is now a very interesting art museum to visit so don’t forget Exploring Lao art Museum. It’s quite a ways out of the city but it’s well worth the trip, about 40 minutes from the main tourist part of town. Plan to spend a minimum of one hour and as much as three hours looking at all the beautiful works of art most of which were carved from old fallen trees from forests, rivers and other places.
The fellow responsible for this museum has quite an interesting history which you should make sure to read after you go through the main big entrance. The entrance fee was about 220,000 kip for foreign visitors and a little bit less for Lao citizens. There are three major tourist attractions to visit in Vientiane and this makes the fourth. The other three are the Mekong River with the night market, Tat Luang and the victory monument. That monument was finished up with cement intended for an airport funded by the US government. The cement was redirected.
“Dear Visitors,
It is with great joy that I welcome you to our museum, a space dedicated to celebrating the beauty and potential of wood. Here, you will discover art crafted from discarded materials that many overlook, transformed into pieces that tell stories of resilience and creativity.
As you explore, I hope you feel the passion that drives our mission —to honor Laos’s rich natural heritage and inspire future generations. Your presence here supports not only the appreciation of art but also our commitment to preserving our environment and culture.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Enjoy your visit!
Warm regards,
Phisit Sayathith
Founder, Lao Art Museum”
there are four different environments from which these trees were collected.
Unearthed from farmland where trees were removed, these intricate roots were left behind by farmer. Each piece reveals the complex structures of life underground, showcasing nature’s artistry.
Retrieved from the depths of local dams, these weathered logs have spent years submerged in water, gaining unique textures and colors that enhance their aesthetic appeal.
When a storm brings down a large tree, the remnants are often discarded. However, our museum strives to preserve that damaged wood and transform it into beautiful artwork.
Charred wood that tell stories of resilience and rebirth. Source from aftermath of forest fires.
Collected from tree that have experience disease, this wood feature distinctive patterns that highlight the beauty found in imperfection and decay.
“On March 9, 2024, the langest Leucaena leucocephala tree in Vientiane succumbed to a storm, resulting in significant damage. In light of its age and the circumstances, the office has decided to proceed with the removal of the tree. The Lao government has designated a portion of the tree for the Lao Art Museum, enabling its preservation and creative transformation into artwork instead of being discarded. Utilizing this wood, the museum has crafted five Buddha sculptures, which are now proudly displayed at this Lao Art Museum. In collaboration with the government, the museum has decided to Identify the healthy remnants of the fallen tree and replant them in a garden near its original location. As of September 30, 2024, this tree has successfully been revitalized and is thriving.”
This sculpture, crafted from a log that has been submerged in the Namgnuem River for centuries, has been brought to our museum and transformed into a new art piece. We aimed to preserve its natural beauty, so we chose to sculpt only the head of the Buddha statue, leaving the body of the wood exposed to display the unique marks created by the water.
if you have ever visited Bangkok you probably walked around Wat Prah Keow where the emerald Buddha sits. Here is the official and mildly worded official Lao explanation of how this Lao emerald Buddha wound up in Thailand. Just a hint. The Thai military “moved” the emerald Buddha to Thailand.
“Hor Phra Keo, also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is a renowned Buddhist temple located in Vientiane, Laos. Originally built in the 16th century to house the revered Emerald Buddha statue, it showcases exquisite Lao architecture. The temple features beautifully ornate structures, intricate carvings, and a serene ambiance, making it a significant cultural and religious site. Although the Emerald Buddha was later moved to Bangkok, Hor Phra Keo remains an important symbol of national heritage and spirituality. Today, it serves as a museum, displaying a remarkable collection of religious artifacts and art, attracting both locals and tourists who seek to explore Laos’s rich cultural history.”
I was born on a Friday so this Buddha posture his representative of that day. “ContemplatingBuddha. The Friday Buddha image symbolizes a brief moment following enlightenment when the Lord Buddha remained beneath the Banyan Tree. During this time, he expressed that comprehending and applying the dharma was challenging for ordinary individuals. However, with profound compassion and loving kindness, he recognized that all living beings have unique tendencies, much like the nature of the Lotus flower. Consequently, he chose to utilize the dharma to assist all sentient beings.”
Exploring Topkapi episode 2
Exploring Topkapi palace is a must when visiting Istanbul. This is the palace of the sultans. You need about three hours at least if you want to just walk through slowly and enjoy the different rooms and details. You need a few hours more to study everything.
Beautiful Cappadocia surroundings
if you visit make sure you take in all of the Beautiful Cappadocia surroundings. I went when there was snow on the ground and it was pretty cold which gives it a very different atmosphere from the summertime and the peak tourist season. You can visit anytime and I recommend going when you like the kind of weather and scenery you will find there. Most people will not visit in the winter time but you can get some amazing scenery and photos that few people have.
Learning about Hittites
when I was in school somewhere I heard about the Hittites and so while I was learning about The Hittites they didn’t really come into focus until I visited this ancient city and castle in Turkey. The long history of this area is very interesting and I recommend stopping by for a couple hours, hiring one of the guides here, and learning about the people who occupied Hattusa thousands of years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites
Inspecting Topkapi episode 1
By inspecting Topkapi you are looking into the whims and interests of the sultanates of the Ottoman Empire. Save about three hours to walk around this palace and the areas and look very closely at design details. There is a beauty here which is an amalgamation from many different cultures which can’t give you some insight into the thinking of past generations. After I visited I remembered there was a movie “Topkapi” so I went back to see that and it was about a heist in this palace and it’s a kind of an interesting movie. You can see where a famous mission impossible movie scene was copied. I won’t spill the beans. You will just need to watch the movie and enjoy the limited view of the palace until you get a chance to visit.
The palace was named ‘Topkapi’ in the 1800s, meaning ‘cannon gate. ‘ Before that, it was simply known as the New Palace. It was commissioned by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1459, soon after he took over Constantinople.
Visit Underground Cappadocia
when you visit underground Cappadocia the first thing you might think is the people were very short, not taller than 3 feet. They built these catacombs by digging in the rock for so many years is probably difficult to determine how many. They made the passages short so any people raiding the area would have to crouch down to get through the passage and that means it would be extremely difficult for them to fight. Try walking through the many levels of carved tunnels and you will come to understand why people left these rock dwellers alone. It’s one of the most interesting living arrangements made by humans.
Istanbul interesting stuff
Istanbul interesting stuff is all over the place. Make sure you walk slowly and pay attention to very small things wherever you go. One thing to note is you will enjoy looking at all the different restaurants with food from all over the world. Don’t hesitate to try them out. I found the quality of food and turkey to be extremely good.
Along the Turkey Coast
for the slow traveler I highly recommend traveling south along the Adriatic/mediterranean coastline and visiting all the different little towns and some bigger towns along the turkey coast. There seems to be quite a bit of seafood and interest in scuba diving but I haven’t investigated that very much. But I haven’t really had any bad food in my six weeks travel and I don’t know how the scuba diving is. Try them out and see if they are to your liking.
Quaint seaport Ayvilik
Visiting Quaint seaport Ayvilik was my first stop renting a car for a month after spending almost 3 weeks in Istanbul. The Car Rental company did not notice the license plate frame was broken when I rented the car and the license plate on the front fell out and got lost in the small town, my first few days on the road. The people at the small family owned hotel helped me look for the license plate and also called the rental company to ask advice. I went to the police station to report the lost license plate so there would be no problem on the rest of my trip. The police were very nice and patient and they called the rental company and also the traffic police and they confirmed that I could just continue on my trip which I did. I was stopped about eight times for this problem by the traffic police and after explaining the situation each time they let me continue my trip with no problem. This little town is kind of interesting with it small winding cobblestone streets and it was good to get out of the hustle and bustle of Istanbul.
