Sai Bat

I wish that I could say that I was up before the rooster crows this morning, but it turns out that roosters start crowing dang early.

Regardless, my alarm was set for 4:45am today so that I could get up to see the daily sai bat (morning alms) occur. This is when the hundreds of monks in Luang Prabang walk through the streets of the city toward their respective temples, receiving offerings of food along the way. I knew that this could start anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning, and I wanted to find a good spot to see it.

I had read about this ceremony beforehand to learn if I could respectfully watch, and the consensus seemed to be that if I stayed seated, covered my knees and shoulders, and kept my distance, watching the ceremony was fine.

Devoted locals had prepared baskets of sticky rice or pouches of food wrapped in banana leaves, and they sat waiting for the monks to walk by, placing small parcels of food in each one’s bowl when they did. It seems like this is the primary source of food for the monks, and a way of showing devotion by those who give.

It was a very quiet and peaceful ceremony, and a pleasant way to begin the day.

Planning

I spent much of the rest of morning at a cafe with good WiFi. Trying to post anything on this blog from my hotel in Luang Prabang was a pain because of terrible internet service there, so I decided to wait until the morning to publish my last post.

I had also left some of the details of the later portion my trip up in the air, and today seemed like a good day to do some additional planning. After all, I’ve almost completed the third week of my nearly five-week trip, so I’d better do that planning some time!

Another trip to the airport

Finally, I went back to the hotel one last time to grab my belongings and bid farewell to Luang Prabang. That city was utterly charming, offered so much to see and do, and was often breathtakingly beautiful. But it was time to head to Vietnam.

I had a fairly quick flight to Hanoi, though the undertaking of getting processed once I had landed (even with a visa ready to go!) took a while. While I was waiting in line there was a shift change, and all the border patrol officers turned those who they were processing away, stood up stiff, silent, and synchronized, and then were replaced by the next shift of officers who had suddenly appeared behind them; it was like a royal changing of the guard but for border patrol agents!

The drive into Hanoi’s Old Quarter where I am staying took me past some cool sights, but mostly I was mesmerized by my driver’s center console playing high-energy Vietnamese music videos the whole drive!

Tomorrow, I begin exploring Hanoi.