Laos - Opa Village

Located on the heights of the Nam Ou, O'pa villages are hard to reach.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - I Tu Waterfall

I Tu Waterfall, Paksong, Champasak, LAO P.D.R.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Young Girl KO LOMA

Northern Laos - Young Girl KO LOMA

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Young Girl Hmong Khao

Hmong Khao belonging to the Lao ung Group or "Hill tribe Lao", Hmong-Mien language and Tibetan-Burmese origin.

I bought this postcard for my wife during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Hmong people (RPA: Hmoob, CHV: Hmôngz, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃́], Chinese: 苗族蒙人) are an indigenous group in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, the Hmong people are classified as a sub-group of the Miao people. The modern Hmong reside mainly in Southwestern China and Mainland Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Young Girl Opa

The O'pa are one of the smallest branches of the Tibetan-Burmese family (lolo-Burman), their group is one of the most mysterious of Laos.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Boun Fai

The Rocket Festival ບຸນບັ້ງໄຟ Bun Bang Fai.

The festival typically begins at the beginning of the rainy season, during the sixth or seventh lunar month.

The party begins with the musical performances and dances, parades of floats on the second day and culminates on the third with contests of firing homemade rockets.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Rocket Festival (Thai: ประเพณีบุญบั้งไฟ, romanized: Prapheni Bun Bang Fai, Lao: ບຸນບັ້ງໄຟ, romanized: Bun Bang Fai) is a merit-making ceremony traditionally practiced by ethnic Lao people at the beginning of the wet season in various villages and municipalities in Northeastern Thailand and Laos. The festivities typically include music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers, and musicians on the second day, and the competitive firing of homemade rockets on the third day. Local participants and sponsors take advantage of the occasion to enhance their social prestige, as is customary at traditional Buddhist folk festivals throughout Southeast Asia (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Ponsavanh - Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Plain of Jars, located on a plateau in central Laos, gets its name from more than 2,100 tubular-shaped megalithic stone jars used for funerary practices in the Iron Age. This serial property of 15 components contains large carved stone jars, stone discs, secondary burials, tombstones, quarries and funerary objects dating from 500 BCE to 500 CE. The jars and associated elements are the most prominent evidence of the Iron Age civilization that made and used them until it disappeared, around 500 CE (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Champasak - Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape

Wat Phu, Champasak, LAO P.D.R.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Champasak cultural landscape, including the Vat Phou Temple complex, is a remarkably well-preserved planned landscape more than 1,000 years old. It was shaped to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity, using an axis from mountain top to river bank to lay out a geometric pattern of temples, shrines and waterworks extending over some 10 km. Two planned cities on the banks of the Mekong River are also part of the site, as well as Phou Kao mountain. The whole represents a development ranging from the 5th to 15th centuries, mainly associated with the Khmer Empire (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - The Buddha Park (Wat Xieng Khuan)

ວັດຊຽງຄວນ : Buddha Park, also known as Xieng Khuan, is a sculpture park located 25km southeast from Vientiane, in a meadow by the Mekong River.
The park may be referred to as Wat Xieng Khuan : วัดเซียงควน, since it contains numerous religious images.
The name Xieng Khuan means Spirit City.
The park contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. 

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The matching stamp.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Savannakhet - Hochak Wat Nonglamchanh

Hochak Wat Nonglamchanh. P. Savannakhet, LAO P.D.R.

I bought this postcard for my wife during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - Vientiane - Presidential Palace

Presidential Palace
Located near SIsaket Temple in the junction of Lane Xang Avenue and Settathirath Road.
The building was first started in 1973 and ended in 1986.
It is a well-known landmark for its imposing yet elegant Beaux-Arts.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Presidential Palace is the official residence of the President of Laos, who, by convention, also holds the position of General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. It is located on the banks of the Mekong River in the capital city, Vientiane (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024. 

Laos - 4,000 Island

4000 Islands - LAOS

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Si Phan Don (Lao: ສີ່ພັນດອນ; meaning '4,000 islands') is a riverine archipelago in the Mekong River, Champasak Province in southern Laos. Si Phan Don is part of Khong District, including the islands and part of the mainland in the east. Si Phan Don is dotted with numerous islands, half of which are submerged when the Mekong River is in flood. The principal islands of Si Phan Don are Don Khong (the largest), Don Som (the second largest), Don Det and Don Khon. Si Phan Don borders Cambodia and historical and cultural ties link the people on both side of the border. Pakse is the closest of the bigger cities in Laos to the area (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Laos - Vientiane - National Stadium

Lao National Stadium PK 16

Photo © Lao National Football Federation

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

The Laos National Stadium or formally Anouvong Stadium (official name), also known as Vientiane Provincial stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Vientiane, Laos. It is named after Chao Anouvong, King of Vientiane. It is used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 20,000 people. Since 2008, some matches of the Lao League have been played there.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Laos - Vientiane - Patouxai

Patouxai - Vientiane.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Patuxai (Lao: ປະຕູໄຊ, pronounced [pā.tùː sáj] ; literally Victory Gate or Gate of Triumph, formerly the Anousavary or Anosavari Monument, known by the French as Monument Aux Morts) is a war monument in Downtown Vientiane, Laos, built between 1957 and 1968. The Patuxai was dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. In romanizing the name from the Laotian language, it is variously transliterated as Patuxai, Patuxay, Patousai and Patusai. It is also called Patuxai Arch or the Arc de Triomphe of Vientiane as it resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. However, it is typically Laotian in design, decorated with mythological creatures such as the kinnari (half-female, half-bird). (read further)

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Laos - Vientiane - Sacred Heart Cathedral

Sacred Heart Cathedral also called Vientiane Cathedral is the name given to a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Vientiane. It was built in 1928. The temple architecture belongs to the neo-romanesque style and it has images of Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (read further).

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Laos - Lao Airlines

Fly Lao Airlines

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

I flew from Hanoi to Vientiane (12th January 2025) and from Vientiane to Bangkok (15th January 2025) with Lao Airlines.

Lao Airlines State Enterprise (Lao: ລັດວິສາຫະກິດການບິນລາວ, Thai: รัฐวิสาหกิจการบินลาว) is the flag carrier of Laos, headquartered in Vientiane. It operates domestic and international services to countries such as Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Its main operating base is Wattay International Airport in Vientiane. It is owned by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (read further).

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Southeast Asia - Mapcard of Upper Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Map comprising the upper part; Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is quite surprising that Myanmar is not included here. ASEAN's stance towards Myanmar is that the consensus calls for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all stakeholders, the appointment of a special envoy to support mediation and dialogue, allowing the delivery of humanitarian assistance from ASEAN, as well as allowing an ASEAN special envoy to visit and meet with all stakeholders in Myanmar.

I bought this postcard during my visit to Vientiane, the capital of Laos (12th - 15th January 2025). The stamp was cancelled at the Post Office (HQ) in Vientiane. All the postcards from Laos during this trip (except two Luang Prabang postcards) were brought home myself.

Note : Laos Post Office do not have variety of stamp(s). The cost for international postcard is Kip40,000.00. The Post Office only have Kip2,500.00 which value was upgraded (by red marking the stamp) to Kip40,000.00 on February 2024.

Indochina - Mapcard

I bought this postcard during my trip to Indochina countries (Vietnam and Laos) as well as Thailand on 10th - 18th January 2025 and got the stamps cancelled at the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina or the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It includes the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam as well as Peninsular Malaysia.

The term Indochina (originally Indo-China) was coined in the early nineteenth century, emphasizing the historical cultural influence of Indian and Chinese civilizations on the area. The term was later adopted as the name of the colony of French Indochina (today's Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Today, the term Mainland Southeast Asia, in contrast to Maritime Southeast Asia, is more commonly referenced (read further).

Laos - That Luang Festival

That Luang Festival, Ventiane, LAO P.D.R.

Sent by LTMD from Ventiane, Laos.

Pha That Luang is the national symbol and most important religious monument of Laos. Vientiane's most important Theravada Buddhist festival, "Bun That Luang", is held here for three days during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month (November). (read further)

Laos - Vientiane - Stupa Tha Luang

Vientiane - Stupa Tha Luang or Pha That Luang.

Sent by Jan of Lonely Planet who visited Laos.

Pha That Luang is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre ofVientiane, Laos. Since its initial establishment suggested to be in the 3rd century, the stupa has undergone several reconstructions until the 1930s due to foreign invasions to the area. It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol.

Pha That Luang according to the Lao people was originally built as a Hindu temple in the 3rd century. Buddhist missionaries from the Mauryan Empire are believed to have been sent by the Emperor Ashoka, including Bury Chan or Praya Chanthabury Pasithisak and five Arahata monks who brought a holy relic (believed to be the breast bone) of LordBuddha to the stupa. It was rebuilt in the 13th century as a Khmer temple which fell into ruin

In the mid-16th century, King Setthathirat relocated his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane and ordered construction of Pha That Luang in 1566.  It was rebuilt about 4 km from the centre of Vientiane at the end of That Luang Road and named Pha That Luang. The bases had a length of 69 metres each and was 45 metres high, and was surrounded by 30 small Stupas.

In 1641, a Dutch envoy of the Dutch East India Company, Gerrit van Wuysoff, visited Vientiane and was received by King Sourigna Vongsa at the temple, where he was, reportedly, received in a magnificent ceremony. He wrote that he was particularly impressed by the "enormous pyramid and the top was covered with gold leaf weighing about a thousand pounds". However, the stupa was repeatedly plundered by the Burmese, Siamese and Chinese. 

Pha That Luang was destroyed by the Thai invasion in 1828, which left it heavily damaged and left abandoned. It was not until 1900, when the French restored to its original design based on the detailed drawings from 1867 by the French architect and explorer Louis Delaporte. However the first attempt to restore it was unsuccessful and it had to be redesigned and then reconstructed in the 1930s. During Franco-Thai war Pha That Luang was heavily damaged from Thais air raid. After the End of World War II Pha That Luang has been newly reconstructed. (Source)