We rose early one morning to watch the procession of monks collecting food as alms at the break of dawn. We chose to stand near the Wat Nong Temple, away from the main street. This street was empty, save the several groups of women who came out with food. They sat on mats with their baskets of sticky rice and waited. Each woman gave a small amount of sticky rice to every monk that passed. Monks are only allowed to eat until 11 or 11:30 in the morning, forsaking food for the remainder of the day. It was good to see how the locals take care of feeding their monks. The monks in turn try to take care of others in the community who do not have enough, forming a sort of social system. Earlier, we'd read some public announcement leaflets asking tourists not to get into the monks' faces, block their stride, or use flash to distract them (basic courtesy). Luckily, the few people around honored this request. At the end of the procession, a couple of obnoxious tourists broke the peace with their cameras and gear, almost to the point of absurdity. It was ugly really; we felt bad for the monks being treated like they were in the zoo. Read more about laid back Luang Prabang.
Each monk has his own container for food and in a swift move, he lifts the lid as the woman drops in bits of sticky rice. We heard that the monks sometimes get too much food so that they give the rest away to the poor. Read more about laid back Luang Prabang.
The line of monks coming down the street for early morning alms (food given by locals). Each temple takes a different route around town, making sure that there is a steady flow and pace. The procession takes place in the early morning before there is much light and we had been asked not to use flash or to get close to the monks to disturb them. Unfortunately, they moved too quickly for our shutters! Read more about laid back Luang Prabang.
