The luckiest men in Laos are the monks. They have priority boarding on airplanes, they don't have to wear pants and guess what they get twice a day? FREE FOOD.
At five am the monks walk down the streets of their town with alms bowls and you sit with sticky rice on your stairs. When the monks come you grab a handful of rice and place it in their alms bowl. No words or eye contact is exchanged. That is breakfast. For lunch Laotian people will make a lunch and bring it to the monastery for the monks, but the cool thing is - you don't make a meal you think the monks will like, you make a meal for some one deceased. For example, our guide, who's father had passed away, would make noodles and chicken every day to bring to the monks because noodles and chicken was his dad's all time favorite. So basically you offer the departed their favorite meals via the monks. I like the idea of honoring your loved ones with food, and the idea that the monks have the happy job of being the vehicle for the offering.
There is a Buddha for each day of the week. These include Reclining Buddha, Alms Bowl Bhuddha and Meditation Buddha. If you are born on Saturday (which I was) your Buddha is Buddha Sitting Under The Naga Hood - which is basically Buddha surrounded by serpentine dragons. If you are Naga Hood like me, people in Laos will treat you like a king or queen. They say Naga Hood people are the most special and powerful and after our guide found out I was born on Saturday, whenever he said my name, he would make a gesture using his open hand to sweep over his head from back to front to represent the dragons circling my head. It was really weird, but I felt like I deserved the recognition - FINALLY!
Above are the seasonal looks of the Emerald Buddha. At top and the most under dressed (like all the waitresses at Five Leaves) is obviously summer Buddha. The bottom Buddha is sporting a winter look - fully cloaked in a GOLD BLANKET.
Above is a fortune telling system for monks. You pick a stick out of a cup which has a number on it - then you pick a fortune (all those little papers) with the corresponding number. Predictions/numerology/astrology = endless hours of contemplation.
Marigolds are the color of saffron which is the color of the advanced monk's robe. The monks in training wear a deep red. Nuns, which are female monks, wear white robes. Nothing looks more comfortable than what these people wear. From what I can see there is no waist band and for the women - no bra situation. HEAVEN.
This is the cave of four thousand Buddhas outside Luang Prabang. This is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. The cave started out as a hermitage for monks and then became sacred, so they started hoarding Buddhas in there. Once a year, they take the Golden Buddha from the palace in Luang Prabang up to the cave and wash it and apparently everyone from the city gets in their boats and goes to watch.
All additions to the cave must be approved by the head monks of Luang Prabang, but if you're bad, you can sneak one in without anyone noticing. I wanted to sneak in my birth day Buddha, but thats just not what people born on Saturday do.
I could blow up this post with about twenty more pictures of giant Buddhas like this one but I won't. One of the coolest things about these huge Buddhas is that they build the statues first and then the building around them - its hard to tell from digi cam pics, but the statues are enormous in comparison with the structures that house them. Also there are enormous Buddha statues on hillsides and high ways sides that you can see from airplanes.
Nearly every boy spends at least a year or so in a monastery - which is of note. So many countries have mandatory military assignments but the only obligation you have in Laos is making sure you understand the tenants of Buddha and the austere yet spiritual livelihood of a monk. At first I thought it seemed extreme when I saw the little boys up at 5am for alms, but by the time I left I was pretty convinced that everyone should spend some time in a monastery.
