Alms Giving in Laos – Worth getting up early for

Written on Friday, December 2, 2022 by

The alarm went off at the early hour of 4.45am and, after quickly getting ready I had a cup of tea to wake myself up. A quick pre-dawn drive into town and our guide ushered us to an ideal vantage point to see the daily Buddhist Almsgiving Ceremony.

This is a sacred Lao tradition and, as the sun rose, we watched the procession of orange robed Monks receiving sticky rice offerings from the local people. Along with locals, some tourists also rose early to sit quietly on the footpath with large bowls of rice.  Occasionally a Monk would give some of his rice back to the locals as an offering.

This is a very peaceful and spiritual experience to witness; a sense of calm and quiet really adds to this religious tradition.  Whilst normally I would hope for nice dry weather, it was actually very special to have a light rain twinkle around us, the Monks, barefoot in the puddles holding their umbrellas to protect them from the drizzle.

An added surprise is that of young Novice Monks of about 8 years old also partaking in the Buddhist Almsgiving Ceremony.

It is such a way of life for the people of Laos and something I could not imagine had I not experienced it myself.

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