Luang Prabang – So much happening in a single day!

Alright, bus rides are now starting to get to me. I can’t even count the number of hours I have been spending on buses. 10 hours one day, 7 hours the next, 5 here and there. The first few hours don’t bother me at all. In fact, I like the down time. But once 4 hours hits, I get pretty antsy.

Anyway, the beauty of these long bus rides is that they always seem to take me into another amazing destination J So no complaining here!

I had an incredible day packed with meaningful experiences. I was exhausted by the end, but it was well worth it.

A few of us woke at sunrise to line up and make food offerings to the monks in town. We joined the locals and other tourists in a long line running down the street. Women kneeled while men stood offering anything from sticky rice, to fruits, cookies, packaged goods, etc. There must have been hundreds of monks, young and old, walking in a line with their bright orange garments and silver bowls taking the donations from all of us. What an experience. Was definitely worth the early rising.

 Later in the morning I rented a bicycle and rode into town to volunteer and teach English. The day got even better!! First off, any day cruising around on a bike in a foreign city is an exciting day, but to sit with a Laos local and help him learn English was such a treat for me! I LOVED IT!

Here is the student, Somsuang,  that I was working with. He looks so young but is actually 21 years old. He is in his third year in University and his goal is to return to his hometown in the country side to teach English.

Later in the afternoon I joined my group again and we drove up to visit waterfalls. Beautiful scenery and a nice time to relax.

This plant was everywhere around the waterfalls! Such a great metaphor for me right now. It’s called the Wandering Jew!! I’m serious!! J

The night ended with a bike ride to the best night market yet! I wish I got more pictures of it to share but I was so present in the moment enjoying the crafts and eating really cheap food from the buffets I forgot to take my camera out to take pictures. Oops. But of course, I didn’t forget to take pictures of the food with my iphone. Oh Elana…

Here are some more pics of my time in Luang Probang