Located just outside the center of the city, the Patuxai, or Victory Gate, is actually one of those types of attractions that locals might tell you to avoid, and many guidebooks actually downplay its importance. Consider this a place that is off the beaten path… but still in plain sight! The building was actually built in 1969 with cement that was US purchased, and donated cement, which was intended to be used to build a new airport. Instead the government built eh Patuxai, which resembles the Paris “Arc de Triumph,” but with a bit of the local Laotian flare for good measure. The monument sits on one Vientiane’s wide boulevards and with the palm tree-lined park nearby it does evoke the feeling of Paris in South East Asia.

The building has four gates, rather than the Arc de Triumph’s twin gates, and the Patuxai makes for an impressive sight from a distance. Up close it does resemble a rather crude concrete monolith, but what many visitors don’t know is that for a small entrance fee you can actually climb to the top. The seven-story climb is worth it, as the Patuxai, which was built to honor the fallen from the various wars of Laotian independence, offers some truly remarkable views of Vientiane!