Alms Giving Ceremony, Luang Prabang

Every temple has its own alms giving, but the majority of monks walk down the Main Street. It is very nice to just sit quietly and respectfully from the other side of the street and observe the locals. But it is sad to see the noisy influence of disrespectful tourists and vendors that sell rice for tourists to give to the monks. Just try to avoid them and find a quiet spot for a better experience. We arrived at 540am (but I think it started at 530) and it was done by 6am.

It deeply saddens me that such a great ceremony has already seen its greatest times and it is all in the past. Most people contributing to the alms giving are tourists guided by tour guides. There are certain rules that ought to be followed in order to show respect to the monks and the tradition. However, mostly tourists from Far East were strongly interfering with the ceremony by not obeying the rules and stopping the procession on several occasions. To summarise: the alms giving is not genuine and nor it is very pleasant to see for cultured people as of now.