![\"bvong_pix_laos_thak_baht_luang_prabang.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/bvong_pix_laos_thak_baht_luang_prabang.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luang Prabang, the old Royal Capital of Laos, has always been known as a jewel amongst the already beautiful landscape of Laos.\u00a0 I’d always wanted to go, but I would honestly have to say that it’s not quite what I expected.\u00a0 The first chance I had to walk around this UNESCO World Heritage City, I honestly thought I was back in New Orleans.\u00a0 I stepped out of the guest house early in the morning to see the alms giving to the monks (Thak Baht), and was immediately approached by people asking me to buy food items to contribute.\u00a0 I declined the first wave, but then 3 people just bum rushed me, and I reluctantly purchased some water lily blossoms for 20,000 Kip, which is equal to two bowls of Pho, or a bunch of Longan or mangoes, or 20 fried banana fritters.\u00a0 So you can see my morning started off not so good, losing a chunk of my per diem to nothing that really contributes to feeding the monks, or me. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
The tradition of early morning alms giving dates back centuries and it’s estimated that several hundred monks walk their rounds in Luang Prabang, getting their lone meal from the kindness of parishioners.\u00a0 Lao monks can eat and drink most anything, but they are limited to just a few meals a day, and only before noon.\u00a0 It was sad to see the number of citizens were so few, having to give food to so many monks, and novices.\u00a0 One of the biggest and almost insulting trends is the tourist impact on essentially one of the most intrinsic aspects of being a monk, alms giving.\u00a0 With my photography, I do know that respect comes first, with my culture or just any culture.\u00a0 With my zoom lens from a distance it was sad to see tourists, just foolishly standing on the street corners, with their pocket digital cameras blasting flashes at the monks with no regard.\u00a0 Even if you don’t believe in a cultures’ religion or customs, you are still treading in essentially their home, and it was sad to see this happening for quite some time now.\u00a0 I know it’s pretty, exotic, and a sight to behold, orange robes set against the misty landscape of Laos, but please, just turn off the flash next time.<\/p>\n
During the daytime, it literally was New Orleans, with every other building a guesthouse or hotel, and the restaurants serving not Lao food, but shakes and sandwiches that cater to people not even willing to partake in the real local cuisine.\u00a0 The street mess was awful, with the city gearing up for the dragon boat race.\u00a0 It was a mirror image of a festival in New Orleans, foreigners and tourists just wandering in the street, seemingly using the city as disposable entertainment.\u00a0 This attitude and relationship between the locals and tourists had an affect on me as well.\u00a0 Being Lao, I can speak the language well enough, and I was disheartened to see that they locals didn’t really care about an artist going on a sojourn in the country where he was born, but just another tourist to sell something to.\u00a0 I don’t blame them, it’s a much better living than farming, and who cares where the money comes from right?<\/p>\n
I was also ill at the fact that you had to pay 20,000 Kip\/person just to see one of the temples in Luang Prabang.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Luang Prabang, the old Royal Capital of Laos, has always been known as a jewel amongst the already beautiful landscape of Laos.\u00a0 I’d always wanted to go, but I would honestly have to say that it’s not quite what I expected.\u00a0 The first chance I had to walk around this UNESCO World Heritage City, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,59,7],"tags":[58,60,287],"class_list":{"0":"post-1104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-lao-culture","8":"category-laos-trip","9":"category-photos","10":"tag-laos","11":"tag-luang-prabang","12":"tag-photos","14":"post-with-thumbnail","15":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pelE0-hO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1100,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/luang-prabang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":0},"title":"Luang Prabang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0005.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1108,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/mt-phousi-luang-prabang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":1},"title":"Mt. Phousi, Luang Prabang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/luang-prabang-long-boat-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":2},"title":"Luang Prabang Long Boat Race","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1102,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/champa-house-luang-prabang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":3},"title":"Champa House, Luang Prabang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"There's an interesting establisment in Luang Prabang, a house\/non profit set up by Prince (Chao) Somsanith Nithakhong, a Lao artist of royal descent.\u00a0 (He recently made an appearance on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations episode on Laos) Educated in Laos and France, intelligent and eloquent in many languages, he spoke to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0004.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1026,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/traveling-through-laos-with-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":4},"title":"Traveling through Laos with Friends","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"September 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are the people that I traveled through Laos with.\u00a0 All amazing and kind hearted people with some connection and empathy towards\u00a0Laos and\u00a0its people. (Please excuse my\u00a0silly bios) :) 1] FB Writer, Interviewer, Cookie Thief, Author of \u201cVoices from the Plain of Jars,\u201d helped to expose the secret war in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/bvong_pix_laos_team.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/photos-that-luang-at-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":1104,"position":5},"title":"That Luang at Sunrise","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Still wasn't used to the jetlag, so I got up at 4:00am,\u00a0Vientiane\u00a0time.\u00a0 Had nothing better to do so I\u00a0stepped out of the hotel and started walking to\u00a0the That Luang Stupa, which is the national symbol of\u00a0Laos.\u00a0 It was a somewhat long walk to the site, and at that hour of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"That Luang at Sunrise","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/bvong_pix_laos_02_that_luang.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-thumbnail-no-sidebar":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-slide":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"vantage-carousel":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003-272x182.jpg",272,182,true],"vantage-grid-loop":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003-290x272.jpg",290,272,true],"yarpp-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003-120x120.jpg",120,120,true],"sow-carousel-default":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003-272x182.jpg",272,182,true],"sow-blog-portfolio":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"sow-blog-grid":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false],"sow-blog-alternate":["https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0003.jpg",290,290,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Boon.Vong","author_link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Lao Culture<\/a> Laos Trip<\/a> Photos<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Luang Prabang, the old Royal Capital of Laos, has always been known as a jewel amongst the already beautiful landscape of Laos.\u00a0 I’d always wanted to go, but I would honestly have to say that it’s not quite what I expected.\u00a0 The first chance I had to walk around this UNESCO World Heritage City, I…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}