Day Twenty five; Luang Prabang

Got up at 5.30am this morning to watch Tak Bat (the tradition of monks collecting food from the faithful). The people that prepare food for the monks get up very early to do so, and station themselves on straw mats along the street filling the bowls of the passing monks. Luang Prabang is tipped as one of the more interesting places to watch this because of the number of monks; lines of up to thirty monks at a time pass by in brightly coloured robes to collect the food silently.
We watched from right across the street in silence, taking a few discrete photographs. However, many tourists decided to walk right alongside the monks, putting cameras right in their faces whilst talking loudly with friends. I would encourage anyone considering going to watch Tak Bat NOT to do this; the monks are humble and shy and its uncomfortable to see their sacred traditions being turned into a noisy spectacle.




Afterwards we went up to the elephant sanctuary for an elephant ride through a jungle trail. Actually quite scary in the rain, but also very good fun.

Had a wonder around Luang prabang afterwards and had lunch with Claire, but otherwise spent most of the day on the internet updating the blog.
Dinner and last minute bargain hunting in the market followed in the evening, before heading back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.