Religious building (Vientiane)

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Dangerous place to walk

The left-most photo was taken on 29 December 2008. Midway into the picture, which looks north, note the deep shadows. (A portion of the front entrance to the now-abandoned Dokmaideng Playland can be seen in the distance.) The second photo was taken on the same date but looking in the opposite direction.

Monks at Wat Nongbone tell me that this soi (lane) is a dangerous place to walk. Robbers are known to enter and exit the temple at this spot, where huge shade trees provide long shadows even in bright daylight.

I myself saw a kamoy (robber) get off the back of a motorbike and race to the temple wall (where the deep shadows are), jump over it, and like a rabbit hop, skip and jump across the temple compound, eventually disappearing. This happened at 6 PM on 22 January 2009.

The temple posts 3-4 novice monks as guards every morning when the remaining monks (at least 33 live at the temple) venture outside the compound's walls to receive alms. As well, 3-4 monks sleep every night in the main sanctuary because robbers have repeatedly broken locks and stolen religious items.