Monks and Mekong Make Laos Marvelous

Early morning in Luang Prabang.  We left hotel at 5:50am to make it to the street where we would be participating in the Alms Giving Ceremony, one of the most sacred Lao traditions. Each morning, about 200 saffron robed monks silently walk barefoot down the main street while locals, and tourists, place gifts of food into their bowls. We were required to be barefoot, as are the monks, and to drape a cloth over a shoulder as a sign of respect.  The food collected by the monks was meant to feed everyone in their monastery for at least one meal. Townspeople get up very early in the morning to prepare food specifically for the monks. They do not prepare extra of their own meals to give to monks as this is disrespectful.

our guide shows us how to do this

monks in long line arrive in waves and walk fast

this appears calm, but I was anything but

A nearby restaurant prepared sticky rice for us to give them. It was hot and sticky which created a rhythm and coordination problem for me. My fingertips burned as they dove into the hot rice and most of the time the rice stuck to my fingers as I tried to place it into the monk's bowl before the next monk arrived for his serving. It is inappropriate to sling sticky rice from ones fingers as a delivery method, tho it is more efficient.  This awkwardness resulted in some monks receiving nothing from me, and a pile of sticky rice nearby where I missed the bowl.
We were told that this is a meditative experience for both the monks and the townspeople. I was not meditating! In fact, one monk stopped in front of me, looked me in the eye, and said in perfect English, ' its a beautiful morning'.  Imagine my shock!
Monks that morning ranged in age from about 8 to 80.  You can sign up to be a monk for any period of time as there are no requirements. We met many men on our trip who spent some time in the monastery as part of their maturing experience. Each person talked about their time as a positive and special experience.  Yes, there are also women monks but they live is female monasteries.

The morning market in Luang Prabang is lively, especially after the quietness of the alms ceremony.

hand woven cottons and silks worn as skirts by the local women

fresh crabs

greens and knives

the free rooster was checking out his imprisoned buddies

one stop shop - a bit of everything: frogns, eggs, mushrooms, fish

peppers or all kinds, and some kind of flower to eat

fish heads of course!

breakfast ready to order

flowers for Buddha offerings

Side trips around Luang Prabang were fun.  We learned about making silk and paper in one location, but the rice whisky village made the bigger impression.

happy silk worms eating away

silk worms make silk cocoons that are then twisted into silk thread 

yes, I tried silk worm poop tea!

AND THE PAPER MAKING

wood pulp pulverized with log/stone device

fibers then rinsed and broken up in water over screen

flower petals, leaves selected

applying greenery onto fiber that will dry as paper

finished paper to be lifted from screen when dry

AND THE WHISKY BITS at Ban Xang Hai village

Manly whisky with snakes and things!

making whisky is same process no matter the country-but this is from rice

kids are the same everywhere

assortment of critters in the whisky

BOAT TRIP   
Our day included a boat trip down the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves - one of the most respected holy sites in Lao. People have visited these caves for hundreds of years and have left over 4000 Buddha icons in the caves.  The caves are a shrine to the Buddha and located where the Mekong and the NamOu River join. This is where the pha kwan arrangement from the Baci ceremony would be placed.

Mekong is busy with long boats

interior of our long boat, very comfortable

swarthy sailors

first view of the cave area 

stairway to the main cave

Had to walk on this makeshift, rickety floating dock

a snippet of the hundreds of Buddhas in the caves

view from cave to the river 

hanging out in the cave

Holly brings pha kwan flowers to the cave - a long day's journey for flowers!

Hollys wife Sara 

new major bridge being built by China

structure looms over surroundings

Lao and French architecture - the palace

VISIT TO THE PALACES
The royal palace was built for King Sisavang Vong in 1904 when Lao was a French colony. After the revolution in 1975, the government took over the building.

in 2006 a temple was built, Haw Pha Bang, to house the most important historical object in Lao - the Pha Bang Buddha statue that is covered in gold leaf . It came to Laos in 14th century, is believed to be ancient, and the city is named for it - Luang Prabang.

Haw Pha Bang temple built in 2006 to house the Pha Bang Buddha

inside of this temple - tiled images on walls

elephant part of small temple's decor

Wat Xieng Thong, built 1500's. Royal temple until revolution in 1975

Magical Laos

mountainous terrain in Laos

 Laos is a country of villages. It is probably because of the mountainous terrain that explained why a bus trip to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai just wasnt possible. We realized this clearly from the air.

Luang Prabang, in northern Laos where the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers meet, is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. This small town has old French architecture, royal palaces and over 33 temples. The Buddhist monks to live here are a large influence on the personality of the  town from the predawn Alms Giving Ceremony, to a daily attitude of respect and calm by the townspeople.

flying over Mekong River in Laos

where the rivers meet as seen from the town's riverside park

It was national day so the country and the party flags were flying. Party - sickle and hammer!

colorful tuk tuks

townsman praying on side of street

a peek at side patio of historic home-orchids!

another view of the rivers and the busy boat traffic

nice digs! Balcony overlooks pool

Our hotel, Le Palais Juliana was surrounded with lush greenery and their own organic farm where our dinner's greens originated. The rooms were beautiful and dinner delicious.

the extra private bungalows across the pond

Turk checks out hotel's organic farm used for our restaurant

our hotel pool and cabana

delicious Laotian dinner

door knobs 

We were greeted in Luang Prabang with the Bai-ci Welcome Ceremony. This ceremony is held for happy occasions and our arrival was that!  We entered a room where a dozen townspeople were sitting on the floor around a tall arrangement of flowers on a platter holding various small portions of food (like appetizers).  The arrangement also contained cotton threads cut long enough to tie around our wrists. Oh, and rice whiskey is part of this ceremony!                                                                                                         

pha kwan - arrangement for Baci ceremony

Once we arrived, we sat on the ground or chairs facing the townspeople. An elder, who was a former monk, changed a Buddhist mantra that calls for the return of wandering kwan, our individual spirits (which are vital to our body's health and when they 'wander', our body gets out of equilibrium and unpleasant things can happen).

After the chanting, the townspeople collected the cotton strings from the pha kwan and came to each of us as we outstretched our hands.  Our greeter chanted as they tied a string on each wrist. Each townsperson did the same for each of us so that we all had our forearms covered in tied strings.   

Once we were all 'tied', the food and rice whiskey made the rounds.  And then the remaining flower centerpiece was handed to one of our group to be given as an offering at a holy cave we would visit the next day.

townspeople and our guide as the chanting begins

Turk gets his wrists tied as woman chants a blessing. I am on floor next to him.

Chiang Mai part 2

Chiang Mai has so many things going on. It is a beautiful area of Thailand, contains all the conveniences we feel we need, and is smaller and more affordable than Bangkok. Hence this city is very attractive to ex-pats from all over the world.

We enjoyed seeing local artisans working while we learned more about their craft. Silver makers, gem carvers, textile weavers, umbrella makers and painters, paper makers, embroidery artists, silk weavers and dyers, and on and on.   Chiang Mai has most of these in town.

umbrella factory

some of the handpainted umbrellas

woman makes the bamboo spines

our guide shows off her umbrella style

umbrellas ready for painting

some with extra work

Turk tries out a bike taxi

silver artisan

detail of silver bowl

part of our hotel pool - le Meridien

the morning procession for a Buddhist wedding-continuing into late night

 We made dinner reservations at Blackitch a month in advance. The room - the living room of the chef, holds only 10 people.  We had a wonderful fusion meal with many of the ingredients having been harvested or caught by the chef himself.  This restaurant is truly a labor of love. His wife runs an ice cream shop downstairs and provided us a savory pumpkin ice cream for dessert.

flowers and wreaths for recently passed Thai employee of our tour company

writing up the funeral schedule crossing several days

 Towards the end of a day of sightseeing, our guide asked if we would mind stopping at a local temple so that she could give her respects to a colleague who had recently died.  We stopped and several of us went into the temple with our guide, Usa. We were greeted by the deceased brother. The body lay in a refrigerated ornate box draped in fake flowers. The rest of the room was decorated with real wreaths and bouquets from colleagues, friends and family. The small temple was colorfully painted with more modern style pictures depicting scenes from the Buddhas life.
The community was gathering and would have a big pot luck dinner that night. More visits and ceremonies were to take place the next day and on the final day, her body would be cremated.

a photo and beautiful wreath greets visitors

On our last night in Chiang Mai, we went to a home made dinner prepared by a Thai family. The mother, a retired tour guide, works with our travel company to bring the Thai culture a bit closer to us. She, her son and some other family members made and served a delicious meal of traditional Thai foods.  The son told us his story - after school ended, he became a monk for a few weeks to please his Buddhist father. Then he was baptized Catholic to please his Catholic mother. He got his high school education in Los Angeles while living with a close friend of his mother.  Now, he owns a restaurant/bar in this suburb of Chiang Mai.  Their home is made of teak, and stands on tall teak logs so it will not flood during monsoon season.  Each family member, mother and 2 sons, has their own bungalow attached with a deck.  One room in the central part of the compound is used as the family offering room. Photos of family members with offerings sit on tables, shelves and alters. In Thailand and other SE Asian countries, families respect and pray to their ancestors.  You remember your parents, grand parents' death days, not birthdays.

prepping spices for Thai dish

amazing foods

a short helper

dessert - jelloish something and green tea cupcake

learning to build an appetizer

learning about the family alters