We headed to Laos on the advice of several friends and acquaintances who gushed about the country and her people. One friend had even stayed there for several months because he loved it so much. Laos was also the last country on our list of places to visit in SE Asia, so we took the chance.
Armed with tourist info from the good people at the Worldwide Web, we planned a week in Luang Prabang. As soon as we arrived, we felt a welcoming calm and invitation to leisurely explore the small town's nooks and crannies. By bike and on foot, we poked around side streets and found quiet corners in empty temples. These places deftly mixed Thai, Khmer and Lao architecture, art and craft into a serene whole. Perhaps visiting during the low season helped preserve this sense of calm unity, or perhaps it was our intent to spent a whole week in just one place. (OK, so we did manage an overnight kayak, but it started and ended in Luang Prabang, and we were never far from her influence.)
One morning, we watched the mostly stately procession of monks on their morning ritual of collecting alms from devoted Buddhists. Lining the main street, the faithful gave rice or fruit to the monks. In return, the monks give blessings. It was a curious blend of tourists (like us) taking photos of the event and almsgivers passing over their food. Most of its meaning was lost on me since I'm not Buddhist, so I wondered just how many people giving over rice were doing so for the blessings or just to participate in something classically Lao.
I guess it doesn't matter too much to the monks, who seemed unflappable in the face of so many cameras and some pushy paparazzi--er, photographers. They just continued their ritual as they have for so many years, in quiet acceptance.
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