Recent Visits
As we wind down our time here in Laos we have made visits to several places in Vientiane. We recently visited two museums—the National Museum and the Lao People’s Army Museum. The first quite interesting and informative and the second less so!
English class
We only recently learned of meditation classes held in a nearby Wat. The time is spent in both sitting and walking meditation. At the end, there is time to ask questions about Buddhism as practiced here in Laos. Before the class starts, there is an hour for English conversation during which the monk novices want to practice their English.
We have attended the expatriate Protestant church, the Lao Evangelical Church, and the Catholic Church.
novices
We often walked by one of the larger Wats near us but never stopped. It is located just across the street from a small grocery store where we bought all our non-market food. Then recently we learned the story of this Wat and thought we should visit before we left. According to local legend, when the temple was being built in 1563 a young pregnant woman named Si Muang volunteered to sacrifice herself to appease the angry spirits. She threw herself into a hole in the ground where the building’s central pillar was to be placed, and was crushed when the massive pillar was lowered into position. This central pillar also formed the center of the town that was springing up around Wat Si Muang, which to this day is revered as the ‘mother temple’ of Vientiane (according to Wikipedia). Behind the ordination hall, one can see the ruins of a Khmer Hindu shrine which was part of the temple in 1563. The present temple was built in 1956. We found the Wat quite interesting in its blend of animist, Hindu, and Buddhism.
The statue in front of Wat Si Muang is of King Sisavang Vong, king of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang and then Kingdom of Laos from 1904-1959.
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- Lao People’s Army Museum
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- on the grounds of Lao P A M
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- Lao National Museum
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- carved tree trunk at L N M
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- Wat Sok Pa Luang entrance
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- English class
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- meditation preparation
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- meditation
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- Kris at Church of the Holy Spirit
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- Evangelical Church
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- children’s choir at Evangelical Church
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- Catholic Church
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- Si Muang grocery store
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- Wat Si Muang
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- Wat Si Muang
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- Wat Si Muang
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- Wat Si Muang
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- Emerald Buddha
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- receiving a blessing
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- Wat Si Muang
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- Wat Si Muang
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- flowers
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- Na Plok Buddha
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- Wat Si Muang
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- King Sisavang Vong
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- novices