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Wat Si Muang is said to house the guardian spirit of the city of Vientiane. Although the buildings are only a century old the site has been in use for more than a millennium.

The That Luang festival begins here on the night before the full moon of early November which this year happened to coincide with Halloween.

Families create these towers of flowers festooned with strings of money, usually 1,000 kip notes (about 12¢) some folded into origami shapes. They circumambulate the wat three times - in a ceremony called Wien Thien - before entering, getting their blessings and leaving their decorated towers behind.

In a back room, the money is unceremoniously stripped from the towers and stuffed into plastic bags.