Alms ceremony

Monks at dawn (06:00) collecting alms of rice from kneeling villagers and tourists

Along Sakkaline Road near Wat Sensoukharam

Row of rice baskets and stools that have been laid out for tourists

What is the kid waiting for?

The alms giving ceremony is not without its detractors

Unscrupulous local merchants have used the eagerness of tourists

to participate in a local tradition as a means of making easy money

Sometimes sell unsuitable, stale and even unsafe food

Resulted in monks falling ill after having consumed the offerings

and resistance to continuing the tradition

Tourists form the majority of the alms ceremony

Kid collecting unwanted/excess sticky rice from the monks

Foreign givers, monks receivers and the kid get a share of the food

Their orange saffron robes are very picturesque

The govt has made it clear that the monks have to continue the tourist pageant

Or risk being replaced with lay people clothed in saffron robes

in order to keep up appearances and maintain tourist revenue

Kid collecting excess food

Seriously I think they got more than the monks

I hope they make good use of these food

Wat Mai

Morning product market

Cute small eggplant

Errrrrr

Almost on their death roll

Califlower for one person

Nino and angry bird food?

Chicken feet

Meat market

Wat Phonxay Sanasongkham

Oranges!

Baguette food stalls

French baguette for breakfast

Tuktuk to the bus terminal

VIP bus to Kumming, China

Loonnngggg bumppy ride

Cute baby chicks

Noodles lunch

Room is a bit small

Villa Vang Vieng Riverside

Lao style bungalows

Arrived at Vang Vieng after almost 8 hours in transit

Located directly at the shore of the Nam Song River

Spectacular view at the breathtaking mountains

Beautiful sky

Need a haircut?

One of the many pillow-filled restaurants, termed *TV Bars*

All-you-can-eat Christmas dinner

Complimentary Xmas drinks

My favor Laos dishes: fried springrolls and larb

Steam fish

Merry Christmas

Vang Vieng used to be THE party town in Laos