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Luang Prabang is home to over 30 wats, or Buddhist temples. It is considered the religious heart of Laos. One morning we woke up at 5:30 am in order to participate in the alms giving ceremony. At around 6 am, many Buddhist monks in clad in saffron robes exited the wat and began receiving alms from a looong line of people sitting on little plastic stools. We gave them sticky rice with our gloved hands. One monk took some candy from his alms bowl and gave it to Jade with a smile.

One of our favorite activities in Luang Prabang was volunteering at Big Brother Mouse. Big Brother Mouse was started by an American who came to Laos 20 years ago and realized that many Lao people couldn’t read. He published many books in Lao, and started a library under his apartment. He now opens the library space twice a day from 9-11 am and 5-7 pm for Lao students to come and learn English. Travelers volunteer to come in and speak English with students. An older French man, a long-term resident of Luang Prabang, was the volunteer supervisor who paired people up to talk and tried to bring tourists in off the street. The kids came the first time, and Ma and I attended every evening we were there. It was a wonderful way to learn more about the lives of our Hmong English learners.

Here are some pictures from around Luang Prabang…the wats and the market.