13. Nov 10th. Tak Bat, Waterfalls, Bear Rescue and a Cooking Class

 We got up early to head out before dawn for Tak Bat, also known as the giving of alms.  This is where the Buddhist monks, leave their temple housing to receive offerings of food from the residents of Luang Prabang.  We chose a corner near our hotel, which is away from the main route alm route.  Normally for Tak Bat, the monks walk a specific route around their temple.  In Luang Prabang, because there are so many temples in the downtown core, the monks have coordinated their Tak Bat route so that every temple follows the same route.  

Every morning at dawn, the monks from each temple leave as a group and head out.  They receive offerings of food from the residents who have set up on the sidewalk with containers of food to give to the monks.  There’s no talking; the monks walk by the offerer and open up their container so that the offerer can put in a small amount of rice.  

Residents have set up on the street with their food offerings.  Monks walk by and open up their container and the resident places a small amount of pre-cooked rice or vegetable in it.  The monks do not do any cooking so food offerings need to be fully cooked.  

These are monks from two different temples.  Each temple has monks and novices (monks in training).

Many people are expressing concern with tourists vying for space to witness, photograph and even participate in this ceremony.  Many people believe that it is detracting from what is a centuries old, important religious rite.  We did our best to find a corner that wasn’t in the main tourist district, leaving lots of space for people to conduct their ceremony and we could view in a respectful and culturally sensitive manner.  In the video you can see a group of monks receiving alms while another group from another temple approaches behind them.

We witness several temple groups receive alms.  Hard to believe how many temples there are in downtown Luang Prabang.  I thought I had seen them all yesterday, but there were at least 10 temple groups that I saw and we didn’t stay to the end.  

We planned to go to the crowded morning market and then straight over to Kuang Si Waterfalls to beat the crowds.  Judith wasn’t keen to hike the waterfalls that day so I her back at the hotel and went with Phonsy to see the morning market.  This starts before dawn and many people do their daily grocery shopping there at this market.  It’s definitely crowded.  Historically there probably was more room between the stalls lining each alley wall, but with the availability of those ubiquitous 10x10 pop up canopies, the space between the booths became narrower.  

Crowded market scene.  The market runs along narrow alleyways for about 6 square blocks, selling everything from meats, fish and shellfish, vegetables, prepared foods, breakfasts, trinkets and trash, clothing, etc.  

I love the crowdedness of the market, the sights of the different stalls and how the vendors hawk their goods.  

While we were at the market, Phonsy thought that Judith might want to see the Bear rescue center.  Since I have no cell coverage, I hotspotted my phone to Phonsy and sent Judith an email to see if she would change her mind and come see the waterfalls and bears. She ended up changing her mind, so Phonsy tried to get the driver to go and pick her up, but he wasn’t responding so we hurried to get to our market pick up site.  We met Noy there and then went back to the hotel around 7:00 am and got Judith and then we finally were off to the waterfalls.  

Phonsy had arranged for Judith and I to have a picnic breakfast at the falls.  He convinced the guard at the falls to open the gate so we could drive directly to the picnic area at the falls.  

I have seen many falls; Tat Kuang Si is up there in terms of beauty.   The colour of the pools is a beautiful turquoise green.

There’s two other people at the falls, so leaving early to beat the crowds was brilliant.  It isn’t long before Phonsy calls us to let us know breakfast is ready.

Breakfast at the falls was really a nice touch.  We each have tea (the restaurant forgot the coffee carafe), a croissant, fresh fruit and a selection of chocolate chip cookies and some chocolate brownie squares.  Judith motors through the croissant, cookies and squares; I finish off my croissant and fruit.  

After breakfast we snap a few pictures on the bridge over the first pond.  There’s at least one picture where I’m on my toes to match Judith’s height.  

We finish up our picnic and photos and take a walk down the trail following the stream.  The stream is very pretty as it flows over rocks and roots of the fig tree.  Just when you think the section you just passed was the prettiest yet, the next pool ends up being very pretty too.  Lower down you can go swimming in the pools but we didn’t have time.  

Near the end of the trail was the Bear Rescue Center which specializes in caring for Asian black bears that have been rescued by Lao authorities from the illegal wildlife trade.  Most of the bears have been orphaned as the easiest target for wildlife traders are cubs.  Most of the cubs traded would have already seen their mother killed.  Free the Bears Fund Inc. is an Australian charity that supports the centre.  There is no admission charge to encourage the more than 200,000 people who come to Tat Kuang Si Falls, to tour the facility and educate themselves.   

Unphotogenic bear who refused to look at my camera. These Asiatic bears are often called moon bears because of the yellow colour of the patch on their chests.  They’re different from the sun bears  which have a white patch. 

We finish the tour and on our way back to Luang Prabang we pass by an ice cream sign.  Not just any ice cream sign.  It’s Lao Buffalo Dairy and the ice cream is made with buffalo milk.  Judith asks to stop as there’s ice cream to be had.  It’s rich and tasty.  I ordered ginger ice cream and think that it’s pretty darn good.

We return to the hotel around 1:00 and hang for a bit before deciding to go out and get some lunch.  We pass by a store displaying textiles and I’m drawn to some wall hangings.  Over the course of our stay in Luang Probang we end up going into this store 4 or 5 times before we both decide on some art.  

We pass by the Indigo Hotel, the only 4 storey structure in Luang Prabang and see that the bottom floor is a coffee shop that has a display case with a tray full of chocolate croissants.  We each order one and have it with our iced mocha and mango fruit smoothie.

At 4:30 pm I get picked up from the Hotel by Phonsy and Noy.  They are taking me to the Tamarind Restaurant cooking school.  Judith feels a cold coming on and doesn’t want to be constantly blowing her nose so she decides to stay back at the hotel.  I know the reality is hates cooking.  Maybe hate is too strong a word here, but if cooking requires more than three ingredients, ordering out becomes her go to option.   The class is held in a outdoor teaching facility on the outskirts of town.  There are two other groups joining me:  Tim and Janet from Seattle and 2 couples from France.

We prepared several different dishes including sticky Rice, tilapia fish wrapped in banana leaves, minced chicken in a lemongrass basket and many sauces for dipping and marinating the meat and fish.   It was lots of fun and and enjoyable and I learned lots.

At the end we all sat down for a lovely meal eating our self prepared dinners and the staff rounded out the meal with some watercress soup and a vegetable dish.

Holding up my chicken in a lemongrass basket.  It’s deep fried…  

The class

 

 

The driver gave us all a ride back into town and dropped me in front of my hotel.  A great night.