So we got up at 5am to catch the daily ritual of monks collecting alms. And you think, this is a place where rituals and traditions are still deeply rooted. It’s humbling to think you have to get up at 4 every morning just to get your sustenance for the day. And it’s a commitment on the part of the giver as well.
Is there a system of who gets to go where? Do the monks like the tourist stretch? Do they get more food now that it’s become a tourist attraction?
The procession of monks moves along at a surprisingly fast clip. Are they tired of the cameras popping flashes or are they just immune? After all, it’s the lot of a monk’s life in laos to be photographed.
Should I offer sticky rice even though I’m not a buddhist or do I intrude by taking pictures? Will go buy more souvenirs to expiate this nagging sense of guilt.
Had breakfast at santi hotel, a benefit of having the hotel and resort owned by the same person. Would be even nicer to get a day room.
It was cool enough at 6am for a zip-up and the mist lingered.
Walked down to the river front and took up deal to get to pak ou caves for 50K kip. All the way to there in a long shallow boat, clouds hung low on the landscape. Longest 1.5 hr journey cause bladder was bursting. Mercifully, a rest stop at ban xang hei (?) for local moonshine and hand-woven cloth.
Entrance to the caves cost 20K kip. The upper cave, tham phum, was dark, could hardly see anything even with a rented torch (5K kip). The lower caves tham ting were more promising but the undisputed highlight was the presence of a group of touring monks.
Lunch at saffron café – lao peanut chicken wrap (15K kip), cappuccino (17K kip) and banana bread to go (10K kip).
Went on trip to kuang si waterfalls (40K kip transport). Spent about half an hour on the minivan as it made more stops to pick up people until there were 10 in total. K had decided to go back to the resort to chill.
Reminiscent of hongxi waterfalls in guangxi. The surprise here was the colour of the water – a pale aquamarine, a lot more inviting than the mekong’s murky brown.
It may be the land of ten thousand elephants (万象) but have yet to spot any. Have glimpsed water buffalo, and at kuang si, moon bears and a tiger.
How do you improve a picture? Just add monk.
Took a pic for a group of monks, actually the same bunch from the caves in the morning, and started talking to one of them, phon. He’s becoming a monk for 7 days on the 1-year anniversary of his father’s death. He’s on holiday , showing the sights to a monk visiting from thailand(?). born in LP, he now lives and works in vientiane for the telco tigo. (the glossy hip young lifestyle telco ads seem miles away from the reality of people’s lives here.)
All men go through monkhood before marriage for at least 3-7 days.
See from the houses that quite a lot of folks still live very simply – wooden structures on stilts. Thatched with zinc roofs or dried leaves, the walls a cross hatch weave of dried leaves, with the occasional sighting of brick and concrete. As well as a rather incongruous huge-ass satellite dish outside one of these humble homes.
Between the high end option of l’elephant (french) and the low end option of street food (saw this alley offering skewers, roasted meats etc near the post office), we picked malee lao food on thanon phu vao.
Serves only bbq/steamboat combination and it made for a most satisfying meal. One order each of beef, chicken and fish. 30K kip a plate, includes egg, veg, vermicelli, black fungus, tomato. 1 bottle each of beer and water, total came to 106K kip. Most delicious broth, perhaps courtesy of msg. good whatever it was and the place was packed with locals and falang.
Took the tuk-tuk (20K kip) to the restaurant. Driver came back an hour later to take us back to the resort. Bargained to 40K kip but gave 50K kip because of the horribly bumpy last stretch of road to the resort.