April 10, 2011

280707 the quiet in the land

All photos in this post by K-san.

Title of this post comes from this.

Struck by the silence & emptiness of the southern end of Lane Xang Ave, a major road within the city centre, & the widest road the cat had seen in Laos...we could stand in the middle of the lanes to take photos.

Presidential Palace:

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Patuxay in the distance:

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Can't imagine the stretch of Orchard Road outside the Istana in Singapore or Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris being this quiet when not closed off by traffic police.

The hor trai (scripture library) of Wat Sisaket, Vientiane's oldest surviving temple:

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Survived both the destruction of Vientiane by the Siamese, & a project to widen the road:

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Further north along Lane Xang Ave:

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By 2009 things would be a lot busier.

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