We started our day today before dawn. We left the resort at 6:15 and drove to town to give alms to the monks, a practice called Tak Bat. Our guide Dome described the process beautifully and I quote him here:

“Almsgiving is a Buddhist tradition that goes back more than 2,500 years to the time of Gautama Buddha in northern India. In the 5th century BCE, Indian society was undergoing major change. Cities were expanding, trade was growing, and many spiritual seekers were leaving home to search for deeper truth beyond ritual religion. The Buddha was part of this wider renunciant movement.

What made his community unique was how he structured it.

He asked monks to:

👉Own almost nothing
👉Not cook or farm
👉Not handle money
👉Not store food

Instead, they would walk each morning and receive whatever was offered. This dependence was intentional. The Buddha wanted monks to live relying on others’ kindness. It trained humility, prevented the accumulation of power, and kept the religious community closely connected to society.

At the same time, laypeople practice dāna — “generosity” — which is the foundation of spiritual development in Buddhism. Giving reduces attachment and cultivates compassion. So almsgiving is not begging.
It is structured interdependence.

Today, in countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia — especially here in Luang Prabang — this tradition is still very much alive.

Because visitors come to observe it, it can sometimes feel like a performance. However, it is important to understand that this is not staged for tourism. It is a real religious and traditional practice that takes place every morning, whether anyone is watching or not.

The number of monks and novices you see may vary depending on how many are residing in the monasteries at that time. Availability naturally affects what we witness.

Each morning at dawn, this quiet ritual expresses a profound idea:

No one lives independently. Giving and receiving are both spiritual practices.” (Warodom Kokhue, 2026).

We sat on stools with baskets of sticky rice and Laos food wrapped in banana leaves. As the monks and novices walk by, we put a gloved handful of sticky rice and the wrapped food in their bowls, one after another. These monks come into town from a rural area to gather food to bring back to their communities, not just for the monks but for others who have need.

After a quick breakfast back at the hotel, we headed to the morning market in Luang Prabang. What a place! This is the market where local people do their daily shopping. Trigger warning, I am showing pictures of the most unique items I saw. The market was bustling and full of both tourists and locals.

The rest of our day was a cruise on the Meikong river. The Meikong is 350 miles long, beginning in the Tibetan plateau and ending in the Meikong Delta in Vietnam. It also crosses south west parts of China, Myanmar and Cambodia on the way. This river is literally called the mother of all rivers and it provides for millions of people. The river provides food and power with over 1000 species of fish and over 50 dam projects to generate hydroelectricity.

The day was hazy due to smoke from farmers slashing and burning in the mountains to prepare the soil for their crops. The river is bordered on both sides by mountains with more development on the east side of the river.

Our second stop was a visit to the Pak Ou Caves located about 25 miles from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Meikong and Nam Ou rivers. These caves are filled with thousands of statues of Buddha. People have been coming here to worship and leave statues of Buddha for hundreds of years. The statues were in every nook and cranny and every year people from the surrounding villages continue to leave more statues.

We finished our visit to the caves. Many of us just went to the first cave but others braved the steep 300 steps to get up to the second set of caves with more statues. Whatever exertion we experienced was rewarded with a delicious lunch on the way back to Luang Prabang. The downstream journey was relaxing and somewhat quicker. We made it back to the hotel and back to the pool for a refreshing dip. Greg headed into town for the night market while the rest of us chose a simple dinner at the resort.

Tomorrow we have a 5:30 am call for breakfast as we head out pre-dawn for the airport. Tomorrow is Cambodia!