Phu Salao – The Golden Buddha

Just outside of the city of Pakse and across the Lao-Nippon Bridge aka the ‘Japanese bridge’ is Phu Salao, the temple of the Golden Buddha. We took 35 students there (average age around 14) in October and then had to convince them to climb the stairs

What started off as a tribute to Led Zeppelin soon became a real challenge when the concrete stairway to heaven became termite infested wood, with rusty nails and missing planks. Anyway, courage and perseverance prevailed and we not only made it up but back down again unscathed.

Seriously though, the climb is worth it for the serenity and the view.