Luang Prabang, Laos

We woke just before 06:00 to the echoing of deep gong pounds from what sounded like it was a story tall in diameter. We headed out to the street in our PJs and our amazement there were masses of people lined up on the sides of the streets. Women were kneeling in front of weaved rice bowls, old men were shuffling into place, and tourists were poised with their massive SLR cameras in hand. This town is known for the huge population of monks that flood the streets at dawn for their alms ceremony... and here they came… a long ant line of monks weaving around a corner headed straight for us. They came in waves, as we saw each monastery’s monks come for their share of sticky rice. It is custom for the town to support the monks with food and in turn the monks support the town with prayers. After the excitement died down we headed out on a running adventure to the top of Mt. Pu Si. It is not as glorious of a climb as Mt Si near Seattle, but was still a great place for stair climbing since there are two sides of the hill to go up and down from the stupa on the top. During our run we decided to change the ‘cow I win’ supplementary game from ‘sheep I win’ into ‘monk I win’.

Because of its UNESCO cultural site status, Luang Prabang is a top tourist destination in Laos with many 5 star resorts and spas mixed into the guesthouse scene. The city is nestled between the Kham and the Mekong rivers; we found the side of town that borders the Kham a bit more peaceful and there are plenty of great bars along the riverside with music and board games… just mind the gap since there aren’t any guard rails on the decks for the 20ft drop to the river!