{"id":1024,"date":"2008-08-18T12:11:11","date_gmt":"2008-08-18T17:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2011-08-22T15:55:04","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T19:55:04","slug":"photos-that-luang-at-sunrise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/photos-that-luang-at-sunrise\/","title":{"rendered":"That Luang at Sunrise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Still wasn’t used to the jetlag, so I got up at 4:00am,\u00a0Vientiane\u00a0time.\u00a0 Had nothing better to do so I\u00a0stepped out of the hotel and started walking to\u00a0the That Luang Stupa, which is the national symbol of\u00a0Laos.\u00a0 It was a somewhat long walk to the site, and at that hour of the night\/morning, there was\u00a0nobody<\/em> on the streets except me and some really mean dogs.\u00a0\u00a0During the\u00a0two hours I sat in complete darkness waiting for the sun to rise, it was disconcerting, but the sky was exactly how you see it here–beautiful.<\/p>\n

The stupa was built in 1566 by King Setthathirath\u00a0over the site of an older one, which supposedly housed a relic of the Buddha.\u00a0 Over the centuries, it has been damaged and pillaged by so many different people (…Thailand, I’m looking in your direction<\/em>…) but it still holds a presence.<\/p>\n

During the early morning I chatted with some of the older folk, who were doing their daily exercise rounds around the monument and market.\u00a0 It was your typical Lao conversation: where are you from, oh I have kids\/relatives in America, I can’t believe you can still speak Lao, type of conversation.\u00a0 The elderly lady that took my photo at the bottom, actually invited me over to her house anytime for papaya salad.\u00a0 That’s Lao hospitality for ya.<\/p>\n

\"That<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still wasn’t used to the jetlag, so I got up at 4:00am,\u00a0Vientiane\u00a0time.\u00a0 Had nothing better to do so I\u00a0stepped out of the hotel and started walking to\u00a0the That Luang Stupa, which is the national symbol of\u00a0Laos.\u00a0 It was a somewhat long walk to the site, and at that hour of the night\/morning, there was\u00a0nobody on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,59,7],"tags":[58,287,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-1024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-lao-culture","8":"category-laos-trip","9":"category-photos","10":"tag-laos","11":"tag-photos","12":"tag-vientiane","14":"post-with-thumbnail","15":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pelE0-gw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1028,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/photos-vientiane-laos\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":0},"title":"Photos: Vientiane, Laos","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Vientiane (pronounced Vieng-Chun) is the capital city\u00a0of Laos, and not overpopulated, probably having about 400,000 residents.\u00a0 Being drained from the plane ride, I only managed these shots before the day was over.\u00a0 It's an interesting place.\u00a0 Some parts are still very poor, but the other modernized sections (with funding and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/bvong_pix_vientiane_01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/bvong_pix_vientiane_01.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/bvong_pix_vientiane_01.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/bvong_pix_vientiane_01.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1050,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/vientiane-sunrisesunset\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":1},"title":"Vientiane Sunrise\/Sunset","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00026.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1026,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/traveling-through-laos-with-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":2},"title":"Traveling through Laos with Friends","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"September 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are the people that I traveled through Laos with.\u00a0 All amazing and kind hearted people with some connection and empathy towards\u00a0Laos and\u00a0its people. (Please excuse my\u00a0silly bios) :) 1] FB Writer, Interviewer, Cookie Thief, Author of \u201cVoices from the Plain of Jars,\u201d helped to expose the secret war in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/bvong_pix_laos_team.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1100,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/luang-prabang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":3},"title":"Luang Prabang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0005.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1108,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/mt-phousi-luang-prabang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":4},"title":"Mt. Phousi, Luang Prabang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/luang-prabang-long-boat-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":1024,"position":5},"title":"Luang Prabang Long Boat Race","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-thumbnail-no-sidebar":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-slide":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-carousel":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033-272x182.jpg",272,182,true],"vantage-grid-loop":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033-290x272.jpg",290,272,true],"yarpp-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033-120x120.jpg",120,120,true],"sow-carousel-default":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033-272x182.jpg",272,182,true],"sow-blog-portfolio":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"sow-blog-grid":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false],"sow-blog-alternate":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00033.jpg",290,290,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Boon.Vong","author_link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Lao Culture<\/a> Laos Trip<\/a> Photos<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Still wasn’t used to the jetlag, so I got up at 4:00am,\u00a0Vientiane\u00a0time.\u00a0 Had nothing better to do so I\u00a0stepped out of the hotel and started walking to\u00a0the That Luang Stupa, which is the national symbol of\u00a0Laos.\u00a0 It was a somewhat long walk to the site, and at that hour of the night\/morning, there was\u00a0nobody on…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}