11/3: Monks' Call to Alms & Laissez Faire Nong Khiaw

We got up before dawn to watch the Tak Bat or Monks' Call to Alms, where, according to the guidebook, 'saffron-clad monks walk barefoot through two of Luang Prabang's (LP from now on) streets while pious townsfolk place tiny balls of sticky rice in their begging bowls. It's a quiet, meditative ceremony through which monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility while lay Buddhists gain spiritual merit by the act of respectful giving.'

That certainly sounded like something we wanted to watch and we knew there were certain guidelines that we needed to be aware of: maintaining silence by arriving on foot and not chatting; dressing respectfully as we would as if entering a temple; and standing at a distance or using the zoom lens when taking photos.

Photos from Tak Bat Ceremony:

Seats lined up for tourist groups that we saw arriving in buses to participate in the ceremony gave us our first indication that what we were about to view was different from what had been described. People taking part are not 'supposed' to take part unless they are believers; in addition, they should kneel or sit back on the ground with their feet facing behind them, obviously not take photos while giving out the rice, and not wear any perfumes or scented lotions that would permeate the rice. 

Monks lined up at one wat waiting for that temple's monks to get umbrellas as it started to drizzle.

We saw almost exclusively very young monks, each with their own begging bowl.

It was disheartening to see how few locals, only about 15 along the entire route, were giving alms to the monks. 

Prices for different size containers of sticky rice to buy IF taking part in the ceremony.

Also sad to see local vendors selling small bags of chips and other junk to unwitting tourists which was, in turn given, in good faith I am sure, to the monks. It was such a money making scam for the locals as we repeatedly saw the monks toss the chips and inferior rice into plastic baskets that were conveniently placed along the route for just that purpose. I certainly don't begrudge anyone from making money but to sell something that the vendors knew would be trashed in minutes was very hard to observe and accept.

It was profoundly sad to see that Luang Prabang's Tak Bat has now become essentially a magnet for tourists and a huge money maker for the city's vendors and tour operators. Perhaps Steven and I have become too jaded from our travels to have hoped for more from this experience.

We walked back to the guesthouse about 6:45 via the Morning Market once again:

After having spent the last 3 days in LP, we took a mini van from the bus station to Nong Khiaw, a small town located 4 hours away in northern Laos. We were spending another 3 nights in Nong Khiaw before returning to LP for a further 3 nights. We had bought the tickets from a travel agent in LP the day before, not anticipating that, once we arrived at the bus station in LP, that we'd have to wait for well over an hour while the shuttle driver crowded more people in the van than there were seats. We were luckier than some as we had snagged the 2 seats beside the driver.

Photos en route to Nong Khiaw:

Much of the route paralleled the Nam Ou River.

I don't really recommend traveling by road in Laos unless you're a big fan of really bumpy and often dirt roads with therefore lots of dust flying about everywhere if the driver chooses not to use the AC! (I'm writing this knowing we have an about 8-10 hour ride in another mini van to Phonsavan tomorrow. Now, WHAT were we thinking?)

Finally arrived at the Bus Station in Nong Khiaw after 1:15 and hired a tuk tuk to drive us to the Phulisack Guesthouse, our 'home' for the next 3 days. We had a small but nice room with a lovely balcony. According to Booking.com it was supposed to have had a pool and river view but we sure saw no sign of either! Considering the price was only $10 a night, we didn't mind of course.

On the concrete bridge, built in 1973, linking the town's west and east banks.

We had come to Nong Khiaw to get away into some of Laos' countryside and discover some of the country's ethnic villages along the Nam Ou River. The village itself is small but it was once a regional center before becoming pulverized during the Vietnam War and bombs destroyed all 3 of its once celebrated monasteries. 

The rebuilt village was 'discovered' in the late 1990s when the area's beauty and laissez faire attitude made it a popular place for those wanting to stay for months in a chilled out opiate haze until Laos' clamp down on drugs changed the atmosphere radically.

Above and below: Views from the bridge of the karst peaks and towering cliffs rising from the Nam Ou River. Now you can perhaps understand why we came to Nong Khiaw!

Photos from our walk through Nong Khiaw:

Above: Impossible to ignore Nong Khiaw's past.

The kids were playing with a whiffle ball-sized, open weave wooden ball.

We had spent some time talking to 2 different travel agents as we walked through the 2 street village as we wanted to spend one of our two days taking a boat trip on the river but stopping off along the way. When Mr. Mang, the first agent, learned we were from the US (I had to pause writing that as I still consider myself to be 'from' Canada.), he immediately said his grandfather had been killed by bombs during the war - not the most auspicious beginning of a possible business transaction. It got worse when he quote a price that we knew was way too high. When Steven told Mr. Mang that, his response was 'Oh, you MUST be from the US!' It was the first overt anti-American sentiment we've ever experienced in S.E. Asia, Janina.

Having done a lot of research before we arrived in Laos, we next chatted with Harp, the New Zealand owner of another combination agency, cafe and dorm who had spent the last 10 plus years in Nong Khiaw. I think he had gotten too much of the village's laissez faire attitude as he was the most low key and un-businesslike man we've encountered trying to sell his agency's tours and adventures. We ending up telling him at 3ish or so that we wanted to hire a boat with other people and make a number of predetermined stops along the way either of the next 2 days. He promised to write up a sign and put it up outside so that other travelers seeing it could join us.

Yikes - the boy was holding onto barbed wire.

The local high school; volleyball is obviously a favorite game in the area.

Unlike Vietnam where there are propaganda posters and signs and the country's flags everywhere, we saw no such posters or billboards anywhere in LP and only a scant number of national flags.

The village's boat dock. We passed Harp's travel agency on the way back to the guesthouse and noticed no sign had still been put up but he assured us he still would and told Steven to come by at 8 that night to see if there were any takers for a boat trip tomorrow. 

Sad seeing so many pigs crammed into such tight quarters.

Steven thinks we should put together a scrapbook of these photos of his drinking different local beers!

Steven did later walk back across the bridge into town and Harp's young Laotian assistant mentioned Harp was out drinking (the village is so small it only has one bar) and no other traveler had expressed interest in a boat journey upriver. He told us to stop by first thing in the morning just in case we could go then. The backup plan had been for us to hire a 'boatman' through Harp who could take us where we wanted but obviously the cost would be higher than if there were more people with us.

Posted on 11/8 from Luang Prabang, Laos.