Visiting Luang Prabang felt a bit like stepping back in time. The pace of life was certainly slower than anywhere else I have visited in Asia, even Cambodia. It was welcoming and relaxing and people smiled a lot. It's the sort of place you feel immediately at home in, and safe. Shop and restaurant service was friendly and attentive, they clearly wanted to help and yet you could also tell that for many, it was a relatively new concept that they were learning.
It is a very easy place to Be. A place of many beautiful, colourful temples, a huge array of Buddhas (to photograph in temples or buy in the shops), colourful night markets, bicycles & tuk tuks, monks, blue skies and sunshine (at least when we were there!), stunning scenery, some beautiful local art, crafts and textiles, cute cafes and restaurants with colourful gardens by day and beautifully lit with pretty fairy lights by night, strong coffee and some pretty good food. Put all that together and you have not only a great holiday destination but also a photographer's dream location, which of course would be another Big reason why we had such a good time there.
I was fascinated by the monks. They were everywhere, going about their daily business in their colourful robes and often holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. As keen tourists, we got up very early one morning to witness them receiving alms from the locals...and a few tourists. Despite all the tourists there to watch and take photographs, it was one of the most amazing sights to see and was certainly one of the highlights of this entire trip for me. Our hotel arranged the trip for us, drove us down to the town, and dropped us along the Monk's daily route, and then handed me a big basket of rice and pointed to a cushion, upon which I was meant to kneel to perform my rice-giving duty. We had to wait a while but before too long, we could see a line of orange in the distance as the monks silently approached. I was sitting at the end of a row, of about 6 people. A few local women and some tourists, like myself, so I didn't feel totally alone. At a near normal pace the monks walked by, lifting the lids on their bowls so that we could deposit our offering, whether it be rice, money or something else. There was no verbal exchange during this ritual. All you could really hear was the clanging of lids, the sound of cameras clicking and a few excited dogs...they knew things would get dropped along the way or if they were lucky, given to them instead of the monks.
Later that same day, we were in the hotel spa and we got talking to one of the girls who worked there, who in fact gave me my treatment, and she told us that she was sorry if she looked a little tired, she had not had time to do her makeup, but she had been working very hard lately and on top of that, she had been up since 4am so that she could prepare food for the monks, who walked right by her house. She did this every single day with no exception. It really was very humbling to hear.
I would love to return to Laos one day. We spent just 4 days there and had a truly wonderful time. There were excursions to waterfalls and to elephant sanctuaries and floating villages, but we chose to spend all our time close to the town and our hotel for a truly relaxing experience, getting to know the place a little and doing what we love to do...take photographs! I'd recommend Laos to almost anyone but then again, I do hope it doesn't get too over-run with tourists because it's peacefulness is part of it's charm.
Until the next time, lovely, lovely Laos....
It is a very easy place to Be. A place of many beautiful, colourful temples, a huge array of Buddhas (to photograph in temples or buy in the shops), colourful night markets, bicycles & tuk tuks, monks, blue skies and sunshine (at least when we were there!), stunning scenery, some beautiful local art, crafts and textiles, cute cafes and restaurants with colourful gardens by day and beautifully lit with pretty fairy lights by night, strong coffee and some pretty good food. Put all that together and you have not only a great holiday destination but also a photographer's dream location, which of course would be another Big reason why we had such a good time there.
I was fascinated by the monks. They were everywhere, going about their daily business in their colourful robes and often holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. As keen tourists, we got up very early one morning to witness them receiving alms from the locals...and a few tourists. Despite all the tourists there to watch and take photographs, it was one of the most amazing sights to see and was certainly one of the highlights of this entire trip for me. Our hotel arranged the trip for us, drove us down to the town, and dropped us along the Monk's daily route, and then handed me a big basket of rice and pointed to a cushion, upon which I was meant to kneel to perform my rice-giving duty. We had to wait a while but before too long, we could see a line of orange in the distance as the monks silently approached. I was sitting at the end of a row, of about 6 people. A few local women and some tourists, like myself, so I didn't feel totally alone. At a near normal pace the monks walked by, lifting the lids on their bowls so that we could deposit our offering, whether it be rice, money or something else. There was no verbal exchange during this ritual. All you could really hear was the clanging of lids, the sound of cameras clicking and a few excited dogs...they knew things would get dropped along the way or if they were lucky, given to them instead of the monks.
Later that same day, we were in the hotel spa and we got talking to one of the girls who worked there, who in fact gave me my treatment, and she told us that she was sorry if she looked a little tired, she had not had time to do her makeup, but she had been working very hard lately and on top of that, she had been up since 4am so that she could prepare food for the monks, who walked right by her house. She did this every single day with no exception. It really was very humbling to hear.
I would love to return to Laos one day. We spent just 4 days there and had a truly wonderful time. There were excursions to waterfalls and to elephant sanctuaries and floating villages, but we chose to spend all our time close to the town and our hotel for a truly relaxing experience, getting to know the place a little and doing what we love to do...take photographs! I'd recommend Laos to almost anyone but then again, I do hope it doesn't get too over-run with tourists because it's peacefulness is part of it's charm.
Until the next time, lovely, lovely Laos....
The local taxi service
Wat Xieng Thong, one of the oldest temples in Luang Prabang, from around 1560
Wat Ho Prabang, on the Royal Palace compound in Luang Prabang
Wat Ho Prabang, above a sea of market stalls as the night market just gets going
The monks on their way to receive alms
Monks about Town
Just one of many, many Buddha shots...
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