On my first morning in Vientiane of course I had to head over to the Morning Market. The first few tuk tuk drivers I encountered wanted an exorbitant fee so I opted to walk. A few blocks from my hotel is the Wat known at That Dam.Sitting at the centre of a quiet roundabout near the centre of Vientiane, legend has it that the stupa known as That Dam was once coated in a layer of gold.The gold is said to have been carted off by the Siamese during their pillaging of 1828, after which the stupa took the black sobriquet in memory of the dastardly act.However, another myth is slightly at odds with this. It says That Dam is the abode of a dormant seven-headed dragon that came to life during the 1828 Siames-Lao war and protected ocal citizens.Either way, the stupa appears to date from the Lanna or early Lan Xang period.
The central part of the market is still under construction and looks like it did a year ago.
Over the last few years I have gotten to know all the Hmong families who vend at the market. Vending is a family affair with one group at the market selling while the extended family at home makes the beautiful quilts, bags, pillows and other items for sale. These two beautiful children were eating breakfast in the back of the family booth.
In the heat of the day it is very common to see monks with umbrellas walking in the streets of Vientiane.
It is a favorite subject of local painters and there was a stand on one corner where you could buy these paintings.
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