Wat Phu, Laos
Sacred Temple Complex of Khmer Kings
A detailed sculpture carved directly into stone wall.
The project team has instituted a program of training in field and conservation techniques for the local community members directly involved in the project, and the team is also collaborating with the local communities to devise culturally sensitive means to responsibly cope with the expected increasing numbers of tourist visitors to the site.
Forty-five full-time staff members now work on the site, including 12 engineers and architects, up from just four at the start of the GHF project. One project archaeologist has now received his PhD from the University of Hanoi and become the #2 figure in the Lao Ministry of Culture Archaeology Department. Another project member has received a Masters degree from Waseda University. GHF supported the authentic restoration of a community library in the town of Champasak today used by all peoples as a community meeting and study space equipped with furnishings and hundreds of books.
Visitation to the site has grown from under 20,000 a year in 2005 at the start of the HF Project to over 250,000 in 2010, of which 200,000 were international visitors paying $6 each and generating nearly $1.2 million in revenues.
