The travel books tell you that Luang Prabang becomes many travelers favorite city in Southeast Asia and I can understand why. It has definitely become one of my favorites in the 2 and 1/2 days I spent there.
Luang Prabang is set along the Mekong and the whole city is deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site as being one of the best preserved cities in SEA. It seems to be the capital of Buddhism in Laos with the numerous temples and monasteries sprinkled around the city. Monks are seen everywhere in their saffron robes and umbrellas to protect them from the sun.
Speaking of monks, in Luang Prabang, the monks still collect alms each morning from the townspeople. I participated in this ritual my first morning. I awoke before dawn and walked to the main street. As soon as I got there, I was accosted by some local women selling sticky rice or plates of bananas that could be given to the monks. I stood back awhile since I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate. The rules are strict and I didn’t want to do anything that would offend. Our tour guide suggested that it would be fine and we went over the rules again.
Here’s how it goes - you sit on the side of the street with your offering. Men can stand or sit with legs behind them (feet are considered very low and must not be shown or allowed in the direction of monks), and women kneel while making the offering. As the hundreds of monks (there were at least 2-300) walked past, I took a bit of the sticky rice (it’s already cooked) and put some in each monk‘s bowl. The monks varied in age from elderly men to boys who looked to be no more than 10 years old. The food they collect is shared among them at mealtimes, which seems fair since by the time the 150th monk came by, I was out of rice!
It was such a cool experience to participate in this ritual. Seeing the monks coming toward you in a line - a sea of saffron - and then passing down the streets back to the monastery.
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