In Luang Prabang, a ceremony happens every day. The monks line up and come out to receive alms. These come in the form of rice, the main meal of the day for them. Locals line up before dawn along a main street to give the alms. In return, the faithful receive a blessing.

Sounds simple and solemn, right?

Wrong. It’s awful. Loads of tourists cram along the route, standing in the way, following the monks, interfering with the monks getting the only meal they’ll be eating all day. 

I’m sorry to say I was part of the crowd this morning.  Standing back, across the street. Talking quietly. Not flashing my camera flash in people’s faces. Not too intrusive but still there nonetheless.

Read into it if you’re interested. 

Awful for the poor monks. I hope it stops happening.

Anyway, after breakfast and a nap, I took a hot little walk and got some errands done. Time for the boat ride!

It was kinda questionable at the start, but ended up lovely. We (me, Naoko, Siobhan) ended up talking to Dee and Peter, a delightful couple from Australia. Very fun.

Back to the hostel for one more bonfire.

Looking forward to traveling on to Vang Vieng. A small city in Laos, it’s just kinda on the way to the capital. I’ll spend 2 nights there. Hot air balloons are a thing there…hope that works out!

Goodnight 

I didn’t particularly want to do a cooking class. A hostel guest talked me into it. How much fun did we have? So much. 

And at the end, a big and yummy meal. Let’s be honest, I’ll never purchase banana leaves to make this stuff, but making your own marinades in a mortar and pestle is fun. And I have one, so…who knows?

That’s all.

Tomorrow a bunch of us are getting up early to go see a monk ceremony. Yay, 530 AM!

Goodnight ⛦✳❤

Again.

It’s January 27th, and in Laos the beginning of the new year is here. 

Today I have seen a waterfall,  eaten fish, visited a temple, had whisky shots, drank beers, cuddled puppies, been spare-changed by a monk, boiled myself alive in a sauna, smeared yogurt on my face, met some cool people, burned shit at a bonfire, slept in, drank too much coffee, eaten foreign snacks…what a day.

Thank you, universe. 

Well, had a great day with my new acquaintance Naoko. We had a nice little lunch in town, then walked around a bit on our way up to a scenic hilltop spot. Great views of the city and surrounding mountains,  and just a bunch of steps to climb. Beautiful.

Some coffee in the afternoon, and she found a kind of sauna thing to do tomorrow. Only about 2 dollars so that’s awesome. 

It’s easy to spend money here so I’ll need to be a little more careful!

This area’s growing on me. I’m glad I came.

A waterfall tomorrow and the sauna.

Have a great day yourself!