ルアンパバーンの早朝の施しと生鮮市場

You arrive by 5:30 am on the main street. They have small chairs lined up down one side of the street, set on mats. There is a rice offering basket and plastic glove at each chair. At 6:00 am over 100 monks in three waves will come along to receive your alms offering which will provide them with one of the two meals they eat each day. After this is concluded the morning market is in full swing with a full range of food items available to purchase. We enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice pressed while we stood there. It was delicious.

Early morning visit was well worth the trip and highlight of the day. To experience and share the cultural ritual and the understanding of the Buddhist Alms Giving was a fabulous experience.

Attending the collection of the alms is one thing you MUST DO when visiting SE Asia! This experience in Laos did not disappoint. My guide and driver were great! The guide / host actually guided me to a street where there were not many tourists, and mostly locals. What a touching / impactful / beautiful experience. Get up early to do this tour, it is very worth it!

The Early Morning Alms Giving is good to see to experience one piece of the local culture; however, we were very put off by all the tourists who were just gawking, taking photos and being disrespectful - without any understanding of what the ceremony signifies. People should research it before going so you understand what it is. We discovered later that more monks were accepting alms on the side-streets than on the main road. My only guess is that they wanted to avoid the ridiculous spectacle on the main road. Good for them! People - BE RESPECTFUL !!!!

So nice to see a community come together and pay respect to the monks. Although it’s mostly tourists! There are ladies in the street selling the sticky rice for you to give monks. They also provide small stools to sit on, as well as the scarf to wear to show respect. It goes by quickly- I was back at my hotel by 6:15 am