If you rise early in Luang Prabang, you will notice an interesting and sacred daily ritual takes place in its streets. For as long as Buddhism has been prevalent in Laos, the monks here have been participating in this daily alms giving ritual. Each morning at dawn hundreds of monks leave the 35 temples in the city to go out amongst the people and collect the cooked rice offered by the faithful who line the streets. Devotees line up to kneel along their path and offer baskets of cooked rice. The monks carry a metal pail from a should sling and collect the rice in there. Sometimes they are offered other items as well like biscuits or fruit. This then becomes the food on which the monks feed for the rest of the day.
As tourism in the region continues to grow, it has become an increasing aggravation for those taking part in this solemn ritual. Street vendors now line up to sell tourists cooked rice so they can too “participate”. Tourists will oftentimes touch or walk right alongside the monks, snapping photos as they can of what is supposed to be a solemn affair. Some tourists are even downright rude by various accounts. Responsible travelers must learn how to respectfully observe this ritual without creating an additional nuisance.
Here are some tips if you plan to observe this ritual:
-Only make an offering if it is meaningful to you (or you are Buddhist yourself). If you do make an offering, buy your rice in a market beforehand, not from the street vendors on site.
-Remove your shoes to give your offering and be properly clothed. Shoulders, torso, and legs should be covered and women must stay on their knees.
-If you are not making an offering, stay at a distance and silently observe the procession. Do not take up close photos and do not use a flash.
-Lastly, do not get close to or touch the monks. They are not a museum exhibit.
Cruse ship was great. Fantastic food and service. Cruise itinary got changed so not what we expected, but not an major issue. Japan portion was great. Drivers/guides arranged by 80 Days were great. Hotels were mostly ok. Did not know that most hotels outside of major cities do not allow shoes to be worn in the hotel. again a minor inconvenience. Overall a great trip. Adventure Life communications were timely and much appreciated as far as changes/requests.
Peter Goff
2 days ago
We were a group of three that initiated our research by independently searching for the best agency to help us in the somewhat complex experience of traveling to the Galapagos. We chose adventure life because they were the most responsive in the website provided the most comprehensive overview of the trip. Their reviews were also very good.
Adventure, life splits up its booking process in two parts. First Jeff, the booking agent helped us decide which experience best suited are interests. We chose a small 14 to 16 group sized yacht. Once the booking was made with Jeff, we were handed off to Coleene, who oversaw the complex process of assembling all of the necessary documents and making sure we had everything we needed to make the trip go smoothly. The adventure, life website, then becomes your personal place of reference for all things related to your trip from door to door. It’s a lot of information to assemble, especially for three travelers, but the website makes it easy and Colleen‘s gentle reminders kept us on track. In all, from the beginning, we had four months from the time we started our research till the time we departed. We felt that was, a good amount of preparation time and don’t think it would be wise to do it in less than four months. Mostly because I think you have more options with that amount of time. There were others on our trip that took six months and more from the time they started planning.
The trip itself was outstanding. We ended up on an excellent yacht (Galapagos Angel II) with a great group of guests that we were able to connect with and put together a really nice google photos album to share.
Jed
1 week ago
Mary was very helpful. Quick to reply with helpful information and closure on arrangements.
Nicola Maxwell
1 week ago
Mary Curry and Elma are always so responsive and nice to deal with.
