One Half Hour in Luang Prabang, Laos

Written by Michael Feb 23, 2011

Here I sit in Luang Prabang at 6:30am amidst so many contrasts. The main attention grabber is a procession of 100’s of electric orange robed monks receiving food alms during their daily ritual. I first glimpsed them after turning just a few steps out of our guesthouse, “Villa Le Tam Tam”, which is built in French colonial meets Asia architecture out of rich, dark woods that seem burnished to a gloss from decades upon decades of footsteps. As I walked our side street a few hundred yards to the main drag, where the monks were calmly shuffling past the alms givers in long lines, I passed a man urinating in the street business-like and unaffected. Some mangy dogs barked and chased each in circles and I heard a few stray rooster crows came from different directions in thedistance. I turned the corner, entering the periphery of the alms giving scene and took a seat at an outside table at “Joma”, a very well liked Café/bakery which Adam previously commented “looks like the Roasters” (a coffee house in our town in California) and their menu isn’t all that far off from that, where I am now writing. Note – a random slice of home like Joma is such a grounding and welcome respite, particularly for A&K, now and then. The tourist paparazzi were thick – all clicking away capturing irresistible images of the monk ceremony, which truly is absorbing. Some were respectfully distant, viewing and shooting from across the streets. Others participated, buying sticky rice and bananas from way too aggressive local vendors who pitch “The monks coming. Feed the monks.” and provide a turnkey alms-giving package of a bamboo woven container of sticky rice, tray of bananas and cheap woven mat place on the sidewalk and sit upon. And perhaps the largest group of tourists are almost aggressively (and certainly not reverentially) shooting photos up close and personal, of the monks and the many older local woman who are seated on low stools and give to them daily. I feel very conflicted and at dis-ease. On one hand I'm very drawn to and steeping in the rich, sanctified spirit of the age-old ritual, and in particular the giving by old, relatively poor women to young, innocent monks. but on the other hand I'm uncomfortable and even ashamed by my insensitive tourist brethren who are all about the photo opp and barely registering the meaning and magic. And as this inner stir is occurring, a 20-something backpacked traveler walks up to me and asks me in what sounds like an Israeli accent where a particular guesthouse is located. My synapses immediately traject me back to living in Jerusalem when I was 20 and what it felt like solo traveling on the cheap at that age.

I become present again, as I notice a woman beginning to set up her portable sandwich stall across a side street 15 feet away, complete with a little a clay urn in which she’s lighting charcoal in order to warm the baguette buns. Tuk tuks and motorbikes start whizzing past, more and more of them as time passes. It’s now 7am and the monks and alms givers are gone, replaced in a blink by a fleet of shiny silver minivans with decaled Laos and English lettering in the rear windows, several of which say “VIP” amongst other things. Some older women walk slowly by in plastic sandals, dressed in old worn skirts and attractive and brightly patterned broad scarves wrapped diagonally from 1 hip across to the other shoulder. Soon the tourists will be getting their coffee fixes and whisking themselves off to various day trip sites.

I sit still, taking in what i can and letting the rest slough off me. Such is but a single half an hour on the road. Practically every half hour of our 7 month trip contains such a rich opportunity for observation. It’s ever present, yet tough to really capture, as it takes (me) focus and quietude to absorb it. I'm often walking a tightrope between thirst for insight, sensory overload, desire for A&K to experience, navigating our course, and fatigue - so where does heightened awareness fit into this soup. I guess that all depends... but for now I wouldn’t have it any other way. It's nice to capture this fleeting half hour, and remind myself of ow much there is to notice whenever I want.

One last note: I tend to wake up before rest of MAJK Fam, and get an hour or so of solo time wherever we are. This translates into taking a photo walk or going for a run (both allow me to play the “advance” role to scope out spots that we should visit together), or sometimes just writing and posting. I like these early morning times, and this one is a great reminder to just sit "take it in" sometimes.