Vat Nong Lam Chanh: Just inside the gates of Nong Lam Chanh Temple are two prayer halls sitting side by side, the main hall constructed entirely of wood (apart from its roof) and appearing ancient in design, and the shrine hall appearing more modern with its brick and concrete construction. Flanking the front entrance of the shrine hall are two statues of buddha, each one left with a hole through the heart. Past the prayer halls, small shrines, stupas and monks' quarters are three bridges heading out over a small lake. The bridges on the left and the right terminate at libraries constructed on stilts sitting high above the waters below. Just like the two prayer halls, one has an ancient looking design as is made entirely of wood while the other is much more modern in its construction, but was incomplete on our visit in August 2013.
The middle bridge spans the entire lake, which is teeming with fish protected from local villagers looking for an easy meal due to the lake's location on temple grounds. On the opposite side of the lake sits a plaza watched over by a very large buddha statue at one end. The sides of the plaza are lined with smaller versions of the main statue.
Hotay Pidok: The wooden library over the lake is known as Hotay Pidok and is a respository of 4,000 palm leaf manuscripts containing 361 different Buddhist scriptures written in three different languages: Burmese Pali, Khmer and ancient Lao. The oldest of the scriptures were written in the 16th century, while the structure housing them all dates back to the 17th century. There have been numerous restorations of the building over the years. Due to the large number of palm leaf books kept here, it is considered one of the most important collections in all of Laos. Because of the importance of these manuscripts and the fragility of the wooden structure that houses them, they may be moved to the more modern library upon its completion.